Second job axed as Monroe County cuts 2009 budget

By Bethany Nolan, Herald-Times

bnolan@heraldt.com

The Monroe County Council cut funding for the county's director of community development Thursday in its pursuit of shedding $1.7 million from the 2009 budget.

Aaron Platt, who'd been in the position for over a year, is responsible for administering the county's tax abatements, coordinating redevelopment efforts, administering grants, processing bond applications and even answering the phones when the three other staffers in the commissioners' office get busy, county commissioner Joyce Poling said.

During the hearings, she asked council members: "What do we do with those grants? I would like the council to tell us where we should put this work."

Platt is the second county employee whose position hasn't been funded during the annual budget hearings, the three-day process where the county council reviews proposed budgets for each department and unit and makes cuts or additions. On Wednesday, the council denied funding for a recreational director with the county parks and recreation department who'd worked for the county for 19 years.