The Pitt County Board of Commissioners knew to expect a grim year economically as the ongoing national recession and sluggish recovery conspire to diminish revenue collection. Members received a more thorough review of those figures last week when County Manager Scott Elliott outlined a potential $6.3 million deficit in the coming budget year.

In recent years, commissioners have pushed Elliott to craft a budget of austerity, one that tightens belts and uses savings in an effort to delay any increase in the county’s already high property tax. Such an approach can be employed no longer, as the expected day of reckoning looms for this board as it seeks to close that gaping hole in the county budget.

The board set an ominous tone about this year’s budget process from the start by holding an information session last week, months earlier than normal. Elliott wanted some direction on how board members wished to proceed in a particularly perilous fiscal year, one in which revenue collections have declined and the revaluation of property could abruptly change residents’ tax bills.

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