Dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s.

That’s what commissioners were doing on Wednesday night, June 19, with a budget that the Guilford County Board of Commissioners has banged out in public and private conversations over the last four weeks.

The new budget, which will not include a tax increase, will be based heavily on the budget proposed by Guilford County Manager Marty Lawing last month; however, the commissioners have made their changes to Lawing’s rough draft.  For one thing, they have added some requested new positions that Lawing didn’t recommend.

The board is scheduled to approve the budget at a Thursday, June 20 commissioners meeting room which is expected to be a well attended meeting on the second floor of the Old Guilford County Court House in downtown Greensboro.

On Wednesday – County Budget Eve – Chairman of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners Alan Branson said that, based on discussions between commissioners, he did expect an agreement to be finalized by the June 20 meeting.  He said that over the past few days Republican Commissioners – who hold a 5-to-4 majority on the board – have been attempting to get the Democrats to vote for the budget as well.

Branson said he doesn’t know if that’s doable or not, but he does feel certain that the needed five votes are there to pass a budget.

“It may be 5 to 4; it may be 6 to 3; it may be unanimous,” Branson said of the vote on the 2019-2020 budget.

The Republicans have made some concessions to the Democrats – for instance, they voted for expanding the county’s Minority and Women Business Enterprise Department (MWBE), however, the Republicans are unlikely to take other steps wanted by the Democrats – such as approving about $250,000 in funding for a violence reduction program known as Cure Violence.

The commissioners have already held a public hearing on the budget, but there will be up to 30 minutes allotted at the start of the June 20 meeting for the board to hear speakers from the floor.