Stokes struggles to balance needs, taxes in its budget

From today's Winston-Salem Journal:

But other commissioners say that lowering taxes would not be responsible in a year when Stokes County needs to replace aging equipment.

"I don't see anything in the budget that's excessive," Commissioner Sandy McHugh said. "Some years, you're going to have more growth than other years. The big problem right now is our county equipment hasn't been replaced in years. An ambulance with a patient in it last night broke down. Those are things that we are needing to fix. Naturally, there are going to be a couple of years like this. Once we're sitting on new equipment, it's just a matter of keeping things up."

McHugh said she wouldn't vote for a budget that lowers the tax rate but doesn't meet the needs of the county.