In tough economic times, it can be difficult to pass a balanced budget, but that’s exactly what the Dallas County Commission did.

“The thing that I was most proud of,” said county commission chairman Kim Ballard,

“Was that we passed a balanced $19 million budget with no layoffs, no cuts of services and no furloughs.”

Counties are required by state law to have a balanced budget before Oct. 1st, Ballard said, and he’s very grateful that Dallas County is ahead of the curve.

“There are not many counties that have already passed their budget,” Ballard said.

Dallas County was also fortunate enough to have a carryover surplus, Ballard said, which a lot of counties don’t have because of the poor economy.

“To continue to do the things that we’re doing about the infrastructure and about the things that we have to do to keep the county in good shape,” Ballard said, “I commend the commissioners and the staff greatly for being able to come through these hard financial times and still be in black ink.”

The commission also named Barbara Harrell as county administrator. Ballard said this was a decision he felt very confident in.

“We’re very proud that we announced that we have named Barbara Harrell as our county administrator,” Ballard said. “She’s a very capable lady.”

In other news, the commission passed several resolutions that will work to improve Dallas County roads.

“A couple of miles down County Road 45, we will be doing resurfacing there,” Ballard said. “It’s something we’ve been trying to get funding for for a while.”

Through the state department of transportation, funding was made available through ATRIP (Alabama Transportation Rehabilitation and Improvement Program), to help resurface country roads 115, 7 and 45, Ballard said.

He added that these projects were “carry over projects.”

“There was a first round of ATRIP funding and those particular projects were not funded in the first round,” Ballard said. “But now they’ve opened up a second round, so we’re applying for some funds to make improvements.”