Supervisors Rule Out a Budget Consultant

Rejecting a proposal by county Supervisor Frank Schillo to hire a consultant, the County Board of Supervisors decided Tuesday to lead its own discussion about budget priorities and long-term county goals.

Supervisor Judy Mikels said she believed hiring a consultant would be a waste of time and money.

“I for one do not want to get involved in an all-day session that is going to cost us a fortune to merely state the goals for the future of this county,” Mikels said. “We were all hired to do a job, and that job is to lead and to make decisions for the county.”

Supervisors Maggie Kildee and Susan K. Lacey said they also want the board to lead its own discussion of county goals. They favor a public meeting on the subject, possibly as early as next week.

Although Schillo agreed, he stressed the importance of following through with the pledge to come up with a list of budget priorities.

“This is going to help smooth things out” during budget sessions later this summer, he said.

Schillo proposed spending $10,000 to hire a consultant to assist the board in drafting a mission statement and ranking the importance of programs and services.