The battle of the county budget continues as the Sequoyah County Commissioners on Monday requested the resignations of a member of the county excise board and a member of the jail authority.

At the meeting the county commissioners announced they sent letters to two non-elected board members asking for their resignations. They are Bill Burgess of Sallisaw, member of the Sequoyah County Excise Board for about six years, and Joe Peters, member of the Sequoyah County Criminal Justice Authority since its organization.

Your TIMES was unable to contact Burgess for comment. Peters said Wednesday morning he has not received the letter, and did not know that he was being asked to resign.

"I have some other suggestions about that letter," Peters commented.

The county commissioners have been at odds with the excise board members over the county budget for the past three years. The commissioners say they understand state law to read that the commissioners have final say over the budget. The excise board members say they understand just the opposite, and that the excise board has the final say over the county budget.

In a ruling earlier this year, a Muskogee County District Court Judge Mike Norman ruled in favor of the county commissioners, ruling they had final say over the budget.

Charles Sloan, excise board chairman, said Judge Norman was wrong in his ruling, and the excise board will pursue the case to the State Supreme Court.

"I've studied this law up one side and down the other," Sloan said about the laws which determine who has final control over a county budget. "We're not doing anything wrong, the county commissioners are. It seems they want to get rid of anybody who disagrees with them."

Sloan said this year's county budget was more than likely sent to the state auditor's office, as required by state law, on Wednesday. He said the excise board has no obligation to send a copy of the board's budget to the commissioners.

Sloan said the 2004-5 county budget is the same as last year's. "It might jeopardize the case we have in court now," he said. "I am convinced we are right," he concluded.

Burgess is the excise board member who is appointed by the county commissioners to the board. The other two members are appointed by the district judge and state senator, most usually upon the recommendation of a county commissioner.

Sloan noted, "Bill Burgess' term coincides with (District 3 County Commissioner) Cleon Harrell's term. He is in mid-term. I don't believe what they are doing is legal."

Sloan said his term concludes when District 2 Commissioner Lewis Warren leaves office at the end of December, and he does not know if he will be recommended for re-appointment by the new commissioner, Steve Carter of Vian.

The Budget In Court

The 2002-3 budget was spent as designed by the excise board because the legal arguments over that budget occurred nearly after the fiscal year was complete. Last year's budget, for 2003-4, is still being argued in court, and is expected to go to the State Supreme Court after Judge Norman ruled in favor of the commissioners. The 2004-5 budget is at the root of the present arguments.

Sloan said excise board members are still trying to contact Ben Loring, Ottawa County assistant district attorney, who is representing the board in the budget battles. He said Loring has been tied up in a court case and now available to the board.

The commissioners said they submitted the estimate of needs and the budget as designed by the county budget maker to excise board members last month. Sloan said it is the duty of excise board members to make sure each county office gets the funding it needs. The excise board met Nov. 18 to discuss the budget and change the budget.

"We have not heard from them nor have we seen the budget," District 1 Commissioner Bruce Tabor said.

The commissioners also contend the Nov. 18 meeting was illegal because the excise board members did not properly post a meeting agenda.

Sloan said the agenda for the special meeting was posted, and an employee in County Clerk Donna Jamison's office said the agenda was posted inside a wreath, which hangs on the inside of the door to Jamison's office. Several other courthouse employees said they looked for the agenda and could not find it. The employee said Jamison removed the agenda as soon as the Nov. 18 meeting began.

Attorney Nate Young of Tahlequah has prepared a motion to filed in Sequoyah County District Court to move that the excise board's changes to the county budget be ruled "null and void" because the excise board's meeting agenda was not posted property.

Young said Tuesday he planned to file the motion in district court last week, but realized the county commissioners must approve the petition first. He said the petition will be on the commissioner's agenda for Monday.

Some Funded, Some Not

Members of the Sequoyah County 9-1-1 board had to pay salaries for the six 9-1-1 calltakers out of funds set aside for mapping and addressing, Chuck Wyckoff, chairman of the 9-1-1 board, said the excise board did not set aside any money for salaries.

Sloan said the excise board is not responsible for 9-1-1 salaries, and that those salaries should come from the monthly fee charged for 9-1-1 services, especially from cell phones. Cell phone users do not pay a fee.

Wyckoff said paying salaries out of the funds to be used for mapping and addressing will delay improvements to the 9-1-1 system.

The 9-1-1 board's plans are to complete the mapping and addressing so the county can hook up to the SBC 9-1-1 service. The board then plans to salvage the county's 9-1-1 computer equipment, which is considered outdated.

SBC requires the county maps and addresses be up to date when the county connects to its system. But, having to use funds for salaries delays the mapping and addressing, Wyckoff said Monday.