This latest announcement was sparked by the county's inability to pay for a fire extinguisher inspection and because the county is two months behind in paying its utility bill to the city. Sallisaw supplies the courthouse with electric, water and sewer service.
District 3 Commissioner Cleon Harrell said the county has about $2,000 left in the general government account, and that has to last until the end of the fiscal year June 30.
County Assessor Jack O'Neal's staff said after the meeting his office would see if there is enough money in a cash account to pay for the fire extinguisher inspection and recharging.
Harrell told county officials attending the meeting that this latest budget crisis occurred when he was informed Wednesday afternoon that a representative of the company which services the courthouse fire extinguishers, A&C Fire Extinguishers of Yukon, had arrived to inspect and re-charge the fire extinguishers if needed.
Donna Jamison, county clerk, told the representative there were no funds to pay for the inspection and recharging, Harrell said.
"Then I talked with Dusty Birdsong of ACCO (the Association of County Commissioners of Oklahoma which provides the courthouse insurance)," Harrell said. "He said we could be liable if we don't meet our insurance requirements."
Those requirements include operating and inspected fire extinguishers in the courthouse.
"We have to protect out taxpayers," Harrell said. "If something happens to a taxpayer while they are in the courthouse, then the county commissioners could be held personally liable."
The commissioners voted unanimously to cease paying bills until the continuing budget battle between the commissioners and Sequoyah County Excise Board members was resolved.
County employees will receive salaries for March, which were approved before Thursday's special meeting.
The commissioners adjourned the meeting after the vote, but several county officials and employees and members of the media stayed on to question them about the result of their vote.
Harrell said the commissioners "will not be paying any bills...period! Not until we get some money."
The county commissioners and excise board have been in disagreement over the budget for the past three years. The excise board was order by a district judge last year to follow the commissioners' recommendations for last year's budget, but did not, according to the commissioners.
Excise board members argue back that they, by state law, have final say over the budget and which county office gets how much money. The excise board members claim the two county departments in question, the county jail and Sequoyah County 9-1-1, have supplemental incomes and they decreased their county funding.
The 9-1-1 service collects a fee, usually about 50 cents, from telephone bills, and the county jail gets about $25,000 a month from a sales tax. The commissioners have noted in the past that neither fee is sufficient to sustain the services. They said the salaries alone at the county jail are about $36,000 per month.
The commissioners argue they have final say over the county budget.
District 1 Commissioner Bruce Tabor explained the commissioners ask each county office for an estimate of needs for each fiscal year. Most, he explained, ask for more than they need because to ask for, and receive, less means that officer's budget may be cut even more the next year.
"Everybody asks for more than they need," Tabor said.
When the estimate of needs is received from each county office, the commissioners send the budget to a budget maker. The 2004-5 budget is $1,887,818.02.
The commissioners said they sent a balanced budget to the excise board, who changed all the appropriations.
Tabor said the excise board changed the numbers and appropriations for the offices, then sent the budget to the state auditor's office, with the commissioners' signatures taken from the estimate of needs. "We never saw that budget until after it was sent to the state," Tabor said.
The commissioners note the excise board gave the sheriff's office more money this year, even though the sheriff's office no longer operates the county jail, and left the county jail and Sequoyah County 9-1-1 without sufficient funds. As a result the jail has not been reimbursed for utility bills, about $4,000, and the 9-1-1 staff has had to be paid from a grant that was to be used to upgrade the 9-1-1 system.
In addition, the county general government fund, which has also been used to pay 9-1-1 and jail bills, has been depleted to less than $2,000.
It is estimated the fire extinguishers, which prompted the commissioners' refusal to pay any and all bills, will cost about $45 for every two which need to be recharged. The courthouse has at least 30 fire extinguishers, Larry Vinson, courthouse maintenance, said.
Harrell and Tabor said they would listen to any solution to the budget problem that anyone has to offer.
O'Neal offered to seek funding in the assessor's office cash account. Cash accounts, the commissioners explained, are moneys the county offices take in directly for services. As an example, the county sheriff's office receives money from other county offices, including the court clerk's office, to deliver subpoenas, warrants, and other legal documents.
Sheriff Johnny Philpot said he deposits these fees in a cash account and uses the money to buy new vehicles and other needed equipment. Philpot said the county commissioners cannot, by law, consider the money in cash accounts as part of the budget.
But Harrell and Tabor have said in the past that, with the county in dire need of money, they would like to see the sheriff's office help with the bills.
Most county offices will continue to operate, and Philpot said he will continue to send in bills to be paid.
Kathy Webb, Sequoyah County Election Board secretary, said the elections set for Tuesday will be held. "The municipalities must pay for the elections," Webb explained.
Tony Yates, Sequoyah County agriculture agent, said his office is funded by the state. The extension office does receive about $20,000 a year for travel, Yates said. "They (excise board) cut our office by about $1,000 this year," Yates said. "I should have turned my travel expenses in yesterday," he added.
The district attorney's office, court clerk's office and the county judicial system are funded in most part by the state.
County road repairs and the county commissioners are also paid from a separate fund, which will continue to operate.
Other county offices depend upon county government for funds.
"What do we do?" Greg Wilson with the assessor's office asked the commissioners.
"That's up to your county officer. We don't know what to do. That's our problem," Harrell answered.
He said, "We have talked to everybody, judges, the district attorney, the Oklahoma Tax Commission, the auditor's office, and we still don't have an answer."
