Interim Spalding County Manager Tim Whalen has proposed a fiscal year 2011 budget that cuts 3.4 percent from the fiscal year 2010 budget.

According to the opening page of the proposed budget, the fiscal year 2011 budget is $77,154,012, while the fiscal year 2010 budget was $79,870,076.

“I am pleased with our department heads and elected officials and the way they approached submittal of their budget requests this year and for the cooperative spirit they displayed when meeting with the administrative staff to review their requests,” Whalen wrote.

Whalen asked each department head to submit a budget 5 percent lower than their budget for fiscal year 2010. He wrote that all of them did so, with some making even larger cuts.

“It’s a tough year,” he said. “We expect the tax digest to be down; we don’t know how much at present.”

He is looking at several ways to balance the budget and is waiting on the decision of the Spalding County Board of Commissioners.

Whalen said the budget was assembled out of individual line items and each one was carefully examined. He said there will be no new employees hired and no salary increases. In fact, the county is examining the possibility of making certain county holidays unpaid.

“We’re trying to stay away from those around Christmas,” he said.

Summer holidays like Memorial Day, Labor Day, Independence Day and possibly even Good Friday are being considered.

Members of the Board of Commissioners have been reviewing the budget.

Spalding County Director of Administrative Services Jinna Garrison said the budget public hearing will be on June 7 at 5 p.m. The commissioners will tentatively approve the budget on June 21, at their regular scheduled meeting, and give final approval on June 24, at the zoning meeting.