Amid predictions of diminished revenue collections, the Pitt County Board of Commissioners voted this month to reduce spending in the current fiscal year, trimming appropriations to reserve savings. That effectively reversed the county’s decision last year to use its fund balance to pay for annual expenditures, an approach that lands this community in a troublesome bind.

The coming weeks will decide the direction this county will take for the coming fiscal year, choosing between a budget that cuts public services to the bone or one that meets the expectations of this thriving community. Clear, however, is that commissioners’ past decisions have left them with little room for error as they begin this critical process.

Pitt County property owners will soon have a clearer idea of their financial obligations as notices reflecting the latest revaluation are distributed. Officials had been expecting to see property values decline by about 4-5 percent and updated projections appear to reflect that forecast. The full measure of the county’s fiscal health may not yet be known, but these figures will help provide greater detail as the budget process begins.

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