THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, June 29, 1996 TAG: 9606290237
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY JEFFREY S. HAMPTON, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: HERTFORD LENGTH: 53 lines
The beleaguered Albemarle Commission has been seeing red in more ways than one in recent months. But after some restructuring it may soon be back in the black.
A Blue Ribbon Committee from the commission cut salaries and positions while it produced a $3.3 million budget, which takes effect July 1.
Meanwhile, an Ahoskie auditor found that a $215,000 deficit, which nearly closed the commission's doors, may be as low as $100,000.
``I think we're on the right road now,'' said Carlisle Harrell, chairman of the Blue Ribbon Committee. Carlisle, manager of the town of Columbia, has just been named finance officer for the commission. It is an unpaid position.
The 25-year-old agency nearly folded after its governing board discovered gaping holes in the ledgers early this year. The board fired its executive director and finance officer in May. Carlisle said some of the money woes began when a series of finance officers left in quick succession over the last few years.
The commission will now contract its budget administration to the Pasquotank-Perquimans-Camden-Chowan Counties Health Department for $20,000 a year, far below the salary of a financial officer. The Health Department handles the finances for other local organizations as well. Carlisle will serve as a liaison.
``They will provide us stability. And they have a great reputation,'' Carlisle said of the Health Department.
The Albemarle Commission receives its money from state and federal grants and from dues and services performed for 24 counties and towns in northeastern North Carolina. The commission's headquarters are in Hertford.
The Blue Ribbon Committee made several cost-cutting recommendations:
Eliminate the assistant director position. Dick George, who was assistant director, keeps his position as Community Development Block Grant coordinator.
Eliminate the economic planner position.
Reduce the executive director's salary from $55,851 to $35,000 annually.
Combine the coordinator positions for the Management Information System and the Emergency Medical Services.
Chris Burton with the Ahoskie accounting firm of Pittard, Perry and Crone found past discrepancies in the commission's books were not as bad as originally thought. The commission believed it owed $87,500 to the Job Training and Placement Act. However, there is no record of it in the books of either JTPA or the Albemarle Commission.
Burton also discovered that the fund balance for 1994-95 was $10,000 ahead rather than $70,000 in the hole. So far, Burton's search through the 1995-96 budget has uncovered no discrepancies.
``We've had our ups and downs,'' said Darlene Harrell, interim director of the Albemarle Commission. ``But I feel real confident that the Albemarle Commission is going to continue.'' by CNB