The Anson County Board of Commissioners approved the 2010-2011 budget Saturday.

It contains a proposed property tax rate of 76.7 cents, down from 89.4 cents. This figure was derived from a formula mandated by state law and is revenue neutral.

"The FY 2010 Recommended Budget was developed based on the principle of maintaining the best services possible with the limited funding that is available," County Manager Vance Gulledge said in a letter to the Commission.

Director of information technologies Rita James showed the commission the percentage of local funding in the budget of different departments. It varied widely. While the Anson County Transportation System requires only 5 percent of its funding from local sources, the Hampton B. Allen Library's budget was financed with 96 percent of its funds from Anson.

"This is just another way we are subsidizing the state," Commission Chair Anna Baucom said after the review. Some members of the Commission have previously complained that the state has pushed costs on to counties during the recession.

"The state every year usually finds a way to send [expenses] back to us," Commissioner Jim Sims said.

"I would like to see us stop everyone without a current registration sticker," Baucom said.

The county received an unexpected windfall with the reception of $247,917 in Medicaid funds.

The Commission approved the hiring of two employees at the health department, a nurse practitioner and a nurse, at a total cost of $80,000.

The Commission also approved the retention of a part-time employee recently hired at the jail and the hiring of a pre-trial coordinator.

The coordinator would help shepherd inmates through the trial process by making sure officers were ready to testify or making sure the clerk of court's office was ready for trial.

Sheriff Allen told the Commission June 15 "hundreds of hours of people in the jail" had been saved when a previous grant provided funds for the position.

Allen said he believed the county could save three or four times the expense of the hire by reducing utilities, money spent on food or housing or having an inmate out of custody when they get sick.

He said the current cost of keeping an inmate was $45 per person per day.

The total cost for the two positions is $16,550.

The Commission approved a 5-percent raise for James and County Clerk Bonnie Huntley. A 1.5-percent raise for all county employees was approved.

The Commission will meet with the Board of Education at 5 p.m. July 29 at Anson High School.