Plymouth: County Commissioners tackle budget; revisit talk of dissolving county government

A challenging financial forecast and the relevancy of county government were at the forefront of the Plymouth County Commissioners meeting Tuesday night.

In presenting the fiscal year 2011 budget, Plymouth County Register of Deeds John Buckley told County Commissioners next year will be a test:

“The FY 2011 budget for Plymouth County is going to be a real test of the viability of the County.  Over the last couple of years we’ve lost 30% of our staff and it affects our operations.”

Commissioner Jack Riordan raised the possibility of closing the Rockland registry in light of a projected million and half dollar shortfall, though he said he hoped it wouldn’t come to that.

Register Buckley says he thinks closing the Rockland branch wouldn’t be a quick fix.

“It’s only a two percent effect on our budget.  I think it provides a good service, but that will certainly be one of the points that we discuss during the budget process,” Riordan noted.

Commissioner Riordan also revisited his recent call to discuss the possible dissolution of county government.

“We’re really only providing one service which is the parking department. That’s it—for one point two million dollars. People can spin, bob and weave anyway they want, but the fact of the matter is we need to address this issue,” Riordan said.

Advisory Board Chairman Dan Pallotta responded saying, “One of the major functions of the future for the county is regionalization and the member communities aren’t going to want to regionalize when one of the Commissioners is asking for the dissolution of the County.”

Plymouth County Commissioners will meet again next Tuesday at 6 p.m.