BUDGET COMMITTEE
September 23, 2009
** NOT APPROVED **
Committee Members Present
T. Hopkins, D. Fanton, W. Dibble, T.
O’Grady, C. Crandall (Absent: W. Hall)
D. Burdick, J. Margeson, D.
Pullen, B. Riehle, T. Ross
Approval of Minutes
The
August 19, 2009,
Sales Tax Report
County
Treasurer Terri Ross distributed copies of a Sales Tax Report reflecting
receipts through September 14, 2009, totaling $11,257,182.25 and interest
totaling $1,855.41 which is down about 10.632 percent ($1,339,208.10) over last
year’s figures. If the current trend
continues, the
It
was also noted that we have collected $1.4 million so far in Housing Federal
Prisoners Revenue, and Ms. Ross and Mr. Margeson believe that we should be able
to meet the 2009 budgeted amount of $2 million.
2010 Budget
County
Administrator/Budget Officer John Margeson stated that the tentative budget is
in the development stage, and he hopes to release the tentative budget on
September 30 or the first week in October.
Mr. Margeson highlighted a few big ticket items that are experiencing
big changes. Sales tax collections are
down about $1 million on the revenue side, and our contribution to the
retirement system is up about $1 million on the appropriation side. Mr. Margeson indicated that the committee
will also need to decide how they want to use the ARRA Medicaid money.
Legislator
Dwight Fanton talked about equipment that the Public Works Department really
needs to purchase this year and suggested that $108,000 be put back in the
Public Works 2010 budget.
Budget
Committee Chairman Theodore Hopkins expressed concern about the state’s
financial condition and cautioned that 2011 and 2012 are predicted to be worse
than 2010 from a budgetary perspective.
For the last four years, our budgets have averaged a 2.7 percent annual
increase, and Legislator Hopkins indicated that he would hate to have us
attempt to make the budget “too skinny” only to end up with double digit
increases down the road.
Ms.
Ross indicated that they plan to appropriate the $433,322 remaining in the LLRW
Siting Reserve Fund to the Crossroads Capital Project (H6997) in the 2010
Budget. Approximately $348,000 has been
spent on the Crossroads Capital Project, and this will leave about $85,000 in
that account.
Ms.
Ross also noted that the Court Facilities Capital Project Fund is in the hole
by over $570,000, and she would like to see that account cleaned up and funded
in 2009. If there is any money remaining
in the account that isn’t borrowed, it can fall back to General Fund when the
project is completed. Legislator David
Pullen commented that we authorized the bonds for $13.8 million, and we can’t
borrow beyond that number without another bond resolution. Legislator
Committee
members briefly discussed how much of the unappropriated fund balance they may
want to use to balance the budget and reduce the tax rate. Legislator Timothy O’Grady indicated that he
doesn’t have a problem with using some of the fund balance to cover unexpected
expenses. Legislator
Mr.
Margeson indicated that the Real Property Tax Office hopes to have a new
assessed value next week. We will know a
lot more about what type of tax rate increase we are looking at once the assessed
value has been determined.
It
was noted that capital projects for four bridges have been included in the 2010
budget.
Legislator
Timothy O’Grady asked how much it costs us to do all the things we do in lieu
of sharing our sales tax revenue, and Mr. Margeson indicated that a
conservative guess would be about $5 million.
There
being no further business to come before the committee, the meeting was
adjourned on a motion by Legislator Dibble, seconded by Legislator Fanton and
carried.
Respectfully submitted,
Brenda Rigby Riehle, Clerk of the
Board
Allegany County Board of
Legislators