Guilford County employees will see another round of layoffs within the next week, according to Board of Commissioners Chairman Melvin "Skip" Alston.
Alston did not elaborate on the number of employees or departments that would be affected.
"Probably not this week, but the first part of next week," Alston said this morning. "I’m talking with (interim County Manager Brenda Jones Fox) and we are going over some figures as we speak."
He said that Board of Commissioners vice chairman Steve Arnold and human resources director Sharisse Fuller had been working on the layoffs as well.
Alston has said that his goal is to create a budget for next year that includes no property tax rate increase. if left untouched, next year's budget would raise the property tax bill for the owner of a $200,000 home by $100.
When the first round of layoffs were announced affecting 35 jobs, Alston and other commissioners warned that more cuts could be coming.
Guilford County's layoff policy says that the Board of Commissioners may make a reduction in force themselves, or that the county manager may make one. Having just a few commissioners working with the manager on a layoff isn't outlined. And Alston said that there's no record of those conversations between elected officials and county staff on determining who gets laid off and who stays.
"No," he said. "I go in Brenda’s office, I don’t ask her to write it down or take any minutes on it."
Not all county commissioners are in on the talks, either.
"I’m not aware of it, and I am a commissioner," said commissioner Kay Cashion of the layoff plans, "and we’ll see if that comes up this afternoon."
Commissioners will have a work session at 3 p.m. Tuesday in the Old County Courthouse at 301 W. Market St. The meeting is open to the public.
Not all of the newspaper's content appears online.
*There is a fee for downloading some older articles.