At the Bedford County Board of Commissioners meeting Tuesday night, County Mayor Eugene Ray proposed fiscal caution to "buying things we don't need, until the first of the year... This means no raises, no promotions."

Shelbyville's City Council had a similar freeze brought before it at the Oct. 9 meeting and will be discussing at the next study session.

Ray told the commission he had spoken with several economic experts in recent days and they predicted the turn down would last at least 6 to 8 months. A freeze right now would proactive, he said.

"What we are trying to do here, we're not trying to hurt anybody," Ray said. "This is all about the business of Bedford County."

Unlike the proposal Shelbyville council member Lee Roy Cunningham brought before the city, Ray's freeze did not include hiring, he said.

"We're not looking at (a hiring freeze) yet," he said.

But he did ask for understanding when it came to the freeze on raises and promotions.

"We're trying to keep the maximum number of jobs," said Ray. "We looked at the possibility of raises -- but if we do that, it would create another problem and we'd have to lay off people."

Would it be better to give some raises, then have to let 10 to 15 people go as a result? he asked.

"But still people are complaining," he said.

Ray said he had been speaking with the mayors of several other governments who are facing financial hardship and said one was even contemplating bankruptcy. So far, he said, Bedford County has not shown similar financial issues, but he said they needed to "trim the fat" to prevent it from happening it at all.

"We're not that bad right now," said Joe Tillett, chairman of the financial management committee. "I guess I'm making an assumption that the sales tax revenues are not that bad."

Steps the county has taken and plans to take to cut costs were mentioned. The old hospital and nursing home complex are costing between $30,000 and $40,000 a month, but according to county finance director Robert Daniel, replacing the security firm with an alarm system would eliminate about $10,000 of that. Tillett also suggested reducing utilities.

Direct deposit

While the voluntary freeze passed the count commission unanimously, the same can't be said for the policy mandating direct deposit for county employees. Originally, the proposal would have required all employees to use be paid through direct deposit, but the revised policy only requires new hires to enroll.

"This will save time and money," said Ray. "We're trying to be as efficient as possible."

Daniel said the direct deposit plan would also save many of the employees money.

"A lot of these people go out and cash their checks and have to pay $4-5," he said.

Daniel told the board he had spoken with area banks that do direct deposit and said employees wouldn't have to open checking accounts to receive their funds.

"All they'll need is to keep a dollar in their account to keep it open," he said.

The direct deposit is also being offered to those already working for the county, as well as commissioners.

Almost all voted "aye" on the policy change, including earlier opponents to the policy such as Bobby Vannatta and Stanley Smotherman, but Phillip "Biff" Farrar voted against it.