MECKLENBURG COUNTY, N.C. — It was the community's turn to tell their elected leaders what taxpayer dollars should be spent on in the 2021 Mecklenburg County budget on Wednesday.
The public got to comment on the budget proposal during a virtual meeting Wednesday night with commissioners on a call.
County Manager Dena Diorio made her budget proposal last week. It's a $1.9 billion recommended budget.
The county plans to dip into its reserves to help fill a gap of millions of dollars in expected revenue loss due to COVID-19.
At Wednesday's budget hearing, the pandemic was at the top of mind.
Some asked for more funding to go towards Meck Pre-K.
Others asked for more funding to go to the county's health department that's been forced to work through a pandemic, at times, stressed itself -- making school nurses work as contact tracers.
"The budget provides no clear dollars for increased funding for public health in the midst of two public health crisis: the coronavirus, and gun violence," said Dr. Ricky Woods. "The current budget proposal does not seem to reflect the reality of the threat that the community is under."
Under the budget proposal though, Mecklenburg County Health Department will receive $86.3 million dollars.
The county manager says that will enable the department to best serve the community.
The Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners will likely conduct a straw vote in late May with the adoption of a budget expected in early June.
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