By Steve Taylor
For the Leader
Checks to about 300 vendors and local businesses were sent out this week and about 80 union employees will be paid Friday, after the Jefferson County Council voted in an emergency meeting June 8 to correct the budget.
In a news conference held the day before, County Executive Ken Waller warned that if the problem was not fixed, county government services might be shut down.
That problem was part of the fallout from a six-month battle between Waller and some council members over an amendment to the budget, which also led to the abrupt resignation of two county officials last week – Auditor Richard Carter III and county counselor Tony Dorsett.
The salary budgets for Carter’s and Dorsett’s offices were cut under the budget amendment, which took effect on May 26 after the council voted to override Waller’s veto of it.
Waller said when the amendment took effect, it threw the county’s budget out of balance, in violation of the county charter, but the council’s 6-1 vote on June 8 fixed incorrect budget line numbers and put the budget back into balance.
“As of 6:17 p.m. or so on Friday night, the threat of having to shut down county services ended,” Waller said. “Our bills will be paid, and we will be able to pay our bi-monthly paychecks to our