By NICOLE CARTRETTE
Staff Writer

The Columbus County Board of Commissioners is in no hurry to pass the $76 million budget proposal for fiscal 2007-2008 that includes a 10 to 12-cent tax increase.

Despite Chairman Sammie Jacob’s assertion that county Medicaid relief from the state is not likely until next year, the county is holding off on adopting the budget until June 29 – just days before the county must have a balanced budget in place.

The county has one of the highest Medicaid-eligible populations in the state and the expense is more than 12 percent of the county’s $76 million budget proposal. With no relief at all, the county will have to appropriate roughly $700,000 more to the budget to cover the increase in Medicaid expenses for next year.

The county has budgeted $5.8 million while its 15 percent state share is expected to hit nearly $6.4 million.

“For what it’s worth,” Jacobs said Monday. “I think all boards have been asking the legislature to approve a budget by July 1.

“It looks as though we are going to get relief but it will be in 2008 and it may be a trade off,” Jacobs said, pointing out he had just returned from a county commissioners district director conference in Kitty Hawk a few days before.

“As a lower tier county we are going to come out better but we’re cautioned against using (relief) for budgetary purposes,” Jacobs said. “It wouldn’t be feasible to work on that premise.”

Rep. Dewey Hill said Wednesday that the general assembly may not have the state budget approved this week. There is no Medicaid relief in the state budget but the House and Senate are working on a permanent solution to be voted on this year.

That vote however won’t likely come until after July 1.

“The Senate is very serious,” Hill said. “We’re going to do something about Medicaid.”

The house budget appropriated money for county Medicaid relief but the Senate took it out of the bill and replaced it instead with the intent to provide permanent relief in a separate bill.

Hill said one plan gaining support in both houses is a five-year phase-out of the county share. Under the plan, Columbus County’s cost would be capped the first year and reduced to no cost to Columbus County by the third year, Hill said.

The plan would take a percentage of a quarter or half-cent tax, however, and be a five-year phase -ut for less economically depressed counties. The proposal appropriates $98 million for the relief.

“Columbus County would fare better,” Hill said, pointing out he had asked for research specific to Columbus County showing exactly how it would affect the county but until the proposal better materializes the research won’t be available.