Civitas gives Beaufort County government an ‘A’ for efficiency | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Say what you will about Beaufort County government, but the numbers are in, and Beaufort County has secured its distinction as one of the most efficient counties in the entire state, according to the Civitas Institute Report Card on County Government Growth.

    This distinction is especially notable, in that only 12 of North Carolina’s 100 counties managed to earn an ‘A’ in government growth for the first decade of the 21st Century, by lowering the number of county employees at a time when their populations increased. In the case of Beaufort County, even though its population increased 5.4 percent from 2000 to 2009, Beaufort County trimmed its workforce by 22.4 percent during the same time period. Most of the other North Carolina counties expanded government, even as their populations remained relatively static. Of the 100 counties, 60 grew their workforce at rates higher than that of their population growth. For example, the Swain County payroll expanded 100 percent, while the population only grew 6.8 percent.

Beaufort County commissioner Stan Deatherage at a county budget workshop in June.

    Beaufort County commissioner Stan Deatherage, who has served on the board since 1994, takes part-credit for this achievement, as a consistent advocate of small government. “Since I was first selected in 1994, I have worked to redefine county services as an entity that the county can often be proud of. In my early tenure as a county commissioner, we had more employees; roughly 10% more—and we were still losing key personnel to other counties,” said Deatherage. “Today, we keep our key personnel, our workforce is happier, and our relative cost is lower. I’m very proud of the fact that Beaufort County was ranked so high in the efficient management of its workforce by such a conservative foundation.”

    The rest of the credit goes to the other conservative members on the board, as well as Beaufort County management. County Manager Paul Spruill has been very responsive to the pressure from his elected board of commissioners to determine where cuts could be made and to organize the remainder of personnel so that services would be least affected.

Beaufort County Manager Paul Spruill at a county budget workshop in June.

    “Even before was I appointed county manager in 2003, the Beaufort County Commissioners had initiated a directive to make county services more efficient and county employees more responsive to the needs of the community,” said Spruill. “As county manager, I have made it a priority to continue that directive, and whenever possible, we have continued to streamline personnel, while providing incentives for performance.”

    With unemployment on the rise, many voters expect their government to make similar sacrifices. Beaufort County responded to its 9.1 percent decrease in private sector workers from 2000 to 2009 by decreasing workers in the public sector by the aforementioned 22.4 percent. Of the 100 counties, 73 percent grew their workforce faster than their private sector could grow. For example, Hoke County increased its public sector by 103.9 percent, while its private sector workforce grew by just 10.6 percent.

    In the report, Civitas advises the underperforming counties to learn from their more efficient neighbors, such as Beaufort County.

    “Especially in light of the current economic crisis, elected officials throughout North Carolina need to take a cue from those counties who are successfully doing more with less,” it says.