The budget committee will not meet until June. Commission Chairman Mark Bishop canceled the meeting scheduled for this week, saying the commission needs to have better information on the certified tax rate established by the state.

Bishop said “something’s not right,” adding the projected property tax money for next year should be close to the amount for this year but is considerably less. He said the increase in revenue for the Sheriff’s Department next year should help cover increased budget expenses but there is a major deficit instead. He said it should be real close, saying the state is not giving the right certified tax rate.

Kevin Stephens commented that he didn’t appreciate recent comments made by County Executive Mike Stinnett, who was quoted as saying the commission had manipulated the value of a penny for this year’s budget. Stinnett said he may have used the wrong word but said this year’s revenues were inflated because the value assigned to each penny on the tax rate was too high. Stephens said they couldn’t get information on the fund balance, adding he didn’t think anybody meant to manipulate the penny.

Stinnett said several weeks ago that the value of a penny last year assumed there would be 90% payment, when it is actually closer to 87%.