The Guilford County Board of Commissioners has scheduled a work session for Wednesday, June 9 at 3 p.m. to discuss some key last-minute details before the board adopts a 2021-2022 fiscal budget later this month.

The commissioners have done a lot of talking about the budget in May and June but haven’t made many final decisions yet – at least not publicly. The June 9 discussion in the Blue Room on the first floor of the Old Guilford County Court House will be one of the board’s last meetings before a new budget is adopted.

The COVID-19 pandemic may be winding down, but the commissioners remain very selective as to who they let into the meetings held in small conference rooms. “Due to limited seating capacity, the work session will be open for citizen participation through Zoom only,” the meeting announcement reads.

A few members of the media will be allowed to attend if they RSVP to the county clerk’s office.

This week, when Chairman of the Board of Commissioners Skip Alston was asked the main budget topics for the work session, he had a one-word answer.

“Everything,” the chairman said.

The commissioners had a very lively work session with Guilford County Schools officials last week.  How much to give the schools is one of the most important questions the board faces every year at budget time, but there are always plenty of other controversial subjects, such as how much to give local non-profit organizations and economic development groups, how much to take from the county’s savings account, how many new school nurse positions to fund, and the amount of raises for Guilford County employees.

Alston said there’s so much left to talk about that even he isn’t sure exactly which topics will come up in this near-final pre-budget adoption meeting.

Citizens can watch the meeting on the web by visiting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88070148344, and, if required, entering meeting ID 880 7014 8344 at the prompt.

The June 9 meeting will also be livestreamed on Guilford County’s Facebook page.