April 28, 2020
By: Dwayne Page
The controversy over who should be chairman of the DeKalb County Budget Committee may be over.
During Monday night’s county commission meeting, County Mayor Tim Stribling said he has received confirmation from the State Comptroller that DeKalb County is governed by the Local Option Budgeting Law of 1993 which does not specifically address the makeup of the budget committee and therefore does not give the committee the authority to unilaterally replace its own chairman with someone else.
Appointments to the budget committee and the naming of a chairman are made by the County Mayor with the approval of the county commission.
First District County Commissioner Dennis Slager has served as chairman of the budget committee since 2018 but in February fellow committee member Anita Puckett sought to replace Slager as chairman with Stribling.
County Mayor Stribling said the committee will continue to operate as it has with no changes.
In September 2018, Stribling appointed to the budget committee Dennis Slager, Anita Puckett, Jerry Adcock, Sabrina Farler, and Jeff Barnes and he named Slager as chairman.
In the attempt to remove Slager as chairman, Puckett referenced a 1957 budgeting law which states that “The committee shall consist of five members, one of whom shall be the county mayor and the other four shall be appointed by the county mayor with the approval of the county governing body at its regular January session each year or at any subsequent session. The county mayor shall be the ex officio chair of the budget committee and the director of accounts and budget shall be the ex officio secretary of the budget committee”.
According to County Mayor Stribling, DeKalb County is not governed by the 1957 budget law.