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BOOK <br />things are not inflating at the same rate as they did in the past <br />and we cannot continue to pay people as we did in the past or <br />continue to spend money as we have in the past. He asked that <br />the Board try to look at this budget as if they were in a profit <br />and loss situation where there was only a certain amount of money <br />to spend. This county happens to be a fortunate county in that <br />it is in better shape than many others, but Mr. Willis felt we <br />need to take an overall look and adjust to what the real world is <br />now, and if we don't do it today, next year it will have to be <br />even more severe. <br />Commissioner Bowman felt Mr. Willis made a very poor <br />analogy. She pointed out that we are living in a county that is <br />a very high growth area and this is the cost of growth, not <br />inflation. Just one example is our Landfill. <br />Mr. Willis felt much of the growth the Commissioner believes <br />we are having is something that happened in the past. He did not <br />believe that the growth on the Barrier Island, with John's <br />Island, the Moorings, etc., will continue. <br />Commissioner Bowman did not agree. <br />Vice Chairman Scurlock felt that debate on that point could <br />continue indefinitely, but he did believe the proposed budget is <br />an extremely conservative budget and that the 3 million increase <br />is very easily accounted for in areas over which the county does <br />not have any control. We have had many activities that were <br />traditionally funded by the federal government cease to be <br />funded, but not necessarily the requirement to conduct those <br />activities, and we have to continue to conduct them at a local <br />level just as if they were still funded by the state. For one <br />example, the state gave many roads back to the counties to <br />maintain. Another area where we have very little control is our <br />liability insurance and its increasing premium. Our medical <br />insurance costs went up tremendously, and this year for the first <br />time, we set a cap and are having the employees participate in <br />paying the premium. The Vice Chairman did agree that growth has <br />