Houston County draws down on fund balance

The Houston County Commission has a tentative 2010-11 budget set for approval on Sept. 13 which projects spending to be $1.66 million greater than estimated revenues.

Getting through the year will draw the county's $4.5 million beginning fund balance down to $2.86 million by the end of September 2011, provided there is not a drastic change in the economy, more cuts, or new revenues generated.

In a lean budget year, Commission Chairman Mark Culver said the county is glad to have even that much of a fund balance protection for next fall.

"We need to be at $5 million to $6 million, but $3 million is the bottom line," he said. "The only reason we are comfortable with that number is because department heads committed to not spend everything.

"We think we are OK with this number, but if there are other areas you are concerned with ... let's talk about it," Culver told fellow commissioners Thursday morning during a budget work session.

The county began this past fiscal year with a balance of $7.89 million.

Using fund balances to make up the difference between expenditures and revenues is nothing new for the county. Culver said it has been going on since before he was elected chairman, though he said there is an ongoing effort to more closely balance expenses and revenues through the budget process.

"We budget more because we usually end up getting extra revenues to offset it and we never spend 100 percent of our budget," Culver said. "Payroll issues have acted as a buffer in the past – keeping positions open and unfilled – until we got into the current situation."

Projected expenses for the upcoming year are $36.2 million, while revenues are budgeted at $34.5 million. That's a $1.7 million difference this year, compared to a $3.4 million gap in last year's budget expenses versus revenues.

"We are only able to get by because we have this money in the bank," County Executive Officer Bill Dempsey said.

Labor issues have also changed, with money being saved by not filling empty positions. Culver noted there are fewer workers leaving their jobs because of higher unemployment, so the turnover rate is less. No full-time positions have been eliminated, but many are vacant.

During budget discussions, commissioners also talked about funding to agencies, saying that they are being put on notice that anticipated allocations could get cut.

Overtime was also discussed with Dempsey, who said $100,000 in overtime costs for road and bridge has been reduced to $50,000. Much of that has gone for emergency work during floods.

Dempsey said paying overtime to jail workers, sheriff's department employees, sanitation workers, emergency management agency employees and others is still cheaper than adding new employees with benefits.

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Items not funded in the new county budget:
n  Telephone system upgrade for county offices — $220,000
n  New roof for health department — $130,000
n  New HVAC for health department and board of education — $70,500
n  New county commission vehicle — $22,000
n  New air handling unit for Department of Human Resources — $20,000
n  Numerous Sheriff’s Department vehicles – Reduced from $258,000 to $60,000
n  Sanitation truck — $136,000 **
n  Other heavy equipment and vehicles for Road & Bridge – no price estimate
** A used truck was purchased for $16,000