Editor’s Note: The Daphne Bulletin’s news staff compiled this list of what we felt were the top five stories the newspaper covered in 2009.

DAPHNE, Ala. — No. 1 : Recessed national economy hits home

2009 was a year dominated by stories of how the recessed national economy has impacted everyday life.

News outlets regularly reported skyrocketing unemployment figures as business owners were forced to terminate employees and streamline expenses.

And nowhere was this fact more obvious in Daphne than on “Hamburger Hill,” a stretch of U.S. Highway 98 that contains a multitude of fast food retailers.

Business and city

government

Two major chains, Krystal and Checkers, closed their doors in the spring. Soon after, small businesses like Bay Coffee Company on Main Street were forced to close its doors.

The city of Daphne was affected by a severe dip in sales and tax revenues as the city council was forced to draw from its fiscal reserves for the first time in a decade to balance the 2010 budget. The 2010 budget — proposed in October and passed in November — projected the city’s tax revenue to be around $9.5 million. Seventy percent of the city’s budget — or $13.5 million — covers personnel costs; 15 percent pays for debt services.

“As a council we must get a better handle on overall employee costs and determine solutions to the problem based on long-range needs,” Councilwoman Barnette said in a budget meeting. “We must look at our overall reserves, create projections and develop a plan accordingly.

The council drew close to $600,000 to help balance a shortfall tied to slumping tax revenues and a problematic payroll.

Facing a $2 million shortfall in sales tax revenue, Mayor Fred Small applied three rounds of budget cuts, and at an October work session, said layoffs, furloughs and reductions in pay were the only options left.

The council’s budget solution included:

“We had two options: either use the fund balance draw or layoff employees,” Councilman Bailey Yelding said during an October council meeting.

“This fund balance draw will save jobs. There’s no other way to look at it.”

Education

Recession also affected the school system.

As the 2009-10 school year began, the Baldwin County Board of Education faced a $75 million budget shortfall; administrators reported that the board’s deficit was due mostly  to decreases in sales and tax and ad valorem revenues — the primary sources of funding the county’s schools.

The Baldwin County Board of Education was forced to close two schools as well as terminating the jobs of more than 500 employees.

In October, the school board held an emergency summit meeting to address its budget crisis. At the meeting, administrators presented its balanced budget that included:

Read the rest of this story in the Dec. 30 Daphne Bulletin.