Budget hearings were held in a day-long session last week, allowing county department heads to share their priorities and goals with commissioners. The hearings were informational only, and commissioners will make final budget decisions over the next several months. Comptroller Sherry Wideman opened with a presentation reviewing the process and discussed the variables that go into a community budgeting process.
“There are many considerations from political influences, available resources, both state and federal mandates and regulations, and the goals of the community. We have to think of the pros and cons of spending money now and the long-term impacts of approving things today. What are we giving up by spending today that we could actually use better in the future? What have we learned from the past?”
Wideman said that budgeting ensures that current operating revenues are sufficient to support current operating expenditures and that bond financing is not used to finance current spending.
Revenues primarily come from property, sales, and gas taxes and have steadily increased over time, with property taxes at just over $10 million, sales taxes at just over $8 million, and gas taxes at nearly $3 million in 2023. Governmental funds in 2023 were considerably higher in 2023, she explained, due to the flood mitigation efforts.
Human Resources Director Geof Stark asked about the drop in the historical ending fund balance from 2022 to 2023, which showed in Wideman’s presentation from $12 million to $8 million. Wideman said that the civic center expenditures were run through the general fund, and there was a transfer to cover the $9 million debt with the extra money being allocated to this fiscal year.
The total budget request from all departments is $82,883,030, with salaries making up $21.9 million. The total budget for the 2023-24 fiscal year was $62,389,782.
District Court Judge Tom Stockard was the first department head to present at the hearing and went on the record thanking retiring commissioners Bus Scharmann and Justin Heath, along with Stark, who is also retiring, for their dedication to the county over the years. “I appreciate your dedication, and I thank you for that. As a district judge, I’m a state employee, and this year, have traveled a lot to surrounding counties to cover and help relieve the backlogs in other courts caused during COVID. I can tell you that we have something special here, and we need to take a step back and acknowledge that. What we have here is special - what we are doing works.”
Commissioners will make final budget decisions later this spring.
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