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GREENSBORO — Fortunately, it was already a quiet night for emergency crews when a tornado recently touched down in Guilford County.

Because if that May 8 twister had hit during a time when county-run emergency crews were maxed-out on calls, there may not have been a safety net in place.

That's what Guilford County Emergency Services Director Alan Perdue told county commissioners during a Thursday workshop for the 2008-09 budget.

The commissioners also received presentations from Guilford County Schools, the Department of Social Services and several other county departments about funding requests and cuts in the nearly $590 million county budget.

With a request for two extra personnel to help prepare ambulance equipment, the Emergency Services wish list is one of the smaller budget requests in the county's 2008-09 budget.

Yet that department's needs must be weighed against other requests in the upcoming budget, which the board will approve in June:

General budget

There were 109 requests for additional positions across the county's departments that were not recommended by County Manager David McNeill in his budget. Those included 66 detention officers for the county jail, 10 positions in emergency services, four medicaid caseworkers, three tax appraisers, one efficiency analyst and several other positions.

Jobs lost through attrition and frozen positions would save the county $3.24 million.

Michael Halford, the county's budget director, said revenues from vehicle taxes are expected to decrease in 2008-09. The prediction may be a bad omen for county revenue in the coming year.

"Of all the years I've been doing this," Halford said, "this is the one that I'm most uncertain about over the next 12 months."

Guilford County Schools

The school board expects a $15.8 million increase in funds in the upcoming budget, although McNeill recommends only a $12.5 million raise.

Some commissioners say that amount will rise before the budget is approved. Others expect that to fall.

Much of the budget hinges on what kind of pay raise the General Assembly decides to give teachers. Beyond that, the school board wants the money to pay for building maintenance, a growing student population and other concerns.

"We have come with the idea that we'll get full support from the county," Alan Duncan, chairman of the school board, told commissioners.

Department of Social Services

To make the county's second-largest expense more efficient, some social services workers are now eligible to telecommute or work four 10-hour days in a workweek, said Robert Williams, department director.

One cut in a program to reduce high school dropouts is a part of the plan, however. That would save $200,000 for the department, Williams said.

Although the county would spend $180.4 million on the department under the McNeill's recommended budget, that's only a 0.7 percent increase from the current budget.

Contact Gerald Witt at 373-7008 or gerald.witt@news-record.com