Memphis, TN -- Shelby County is shaking its wallet and nothing is falling out.  As the economy goes, so goes the county budget.  In an effort to balance the budget, Shelby County Mayor AC Wharton has suspended the hiring and promotions of all Shelby County employees.  Mayor Wharton has also suspended all out of town travel unless it's necessary for conducting county business.  And the county will put a freeze on the purchases of any vehicles.  But as we've uncovered, this is just the tip of the iceberg - and other services may too be at risk.

Mayor Wharton is looking to trim the deficit and that could mean trimming his staff and the services they provide.  The other option is to raise taxes.  County Commissioners aren't receptive to raising taxes and people who need these services aren't receptive to losing them.  But when you're 30 million dollars in the hole, something has got to give.

In a news conference today Shelby County Mayor AC Wharton put everything on the table.  "We don't want to mislead anyone and paint a rosy picture when there isn't a rosy picture out there. "It's a last resort, but at least 270 Shelby County jobs are in jeopardy.  361 million dollars of our budget goes to our schools - we can't touch that so we end up picking on the little guy." The little guy who comes through in a big way - people working at the Criminal Justice Center and in areas like the County Health Department and services like the Crime Victim's Center.  "That's not a big ticket item, but it's not required by law to that crime victim who feels the guy who assaulted her is cruising around her house and she wants to talk to somebody.  We may not be able to maintain that service." 

Knowing that the Crime Victim's Center is on the chopping block is troubling news for Pat Henson.  She's been using the center for 12 years.  "My fiancé was murdered in our house.  They provide emotional support, but more than that they hold'em by the hand and tell me where to go so I can be there because that's important to me."

With leaders forced to come up with solutions to dig the county out of a multi-million dollar budget deficit - Wharton says, almost everything and everyone's worth will have to be reconsidered.  "I would hate to bring this up and July 1st hear he didn't tell us this, he told us everything was just hunky dory floating along.  We're not floating along, we're flying along treetop levels and if we dip our wings, it's going to be a crash."

If you have any concerns or ideas, you're welcome to share them with county officials.  A public budget hearing will take place April 12th from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.  It will be held at the Shelby county building on Main Street in Downtown Memphis.