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County budgeters get brief, small relief
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[June 19, 2010]
With half of the fiscal year completed,
county budgeters are pleased with the figures they are seeing now.
Terry Carlton, county board chairman, was excited to be able to say
that during this year when other local governments are struggling
due to the economy, "our expenses are less than our revenues."
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 "We're actually $36,000 to the good," he said.It is difficult to
draw comparatives from one year to another, as both revenues and
expenditures often come in or go out at different times. As a
result, finance chair Chuck Ruben often says that you can never get
a totally accurate depiction of where finances stand.
An example last month was the timing of funds received from tax
anticipation warrants. This year that money was reflected in the
general fund balance a month earlier than last year.
This month the report of revenues and expenses to date compared
with a year ago served better to see just where things stand.
Vickie Dugan, deputy treasurer, first clarified that the biggest
difference in the figures this month was in the way that the
county's monthly insurance payments came due. The dates fell so that
May's payment will not be seen until June, and in June's report both
months' payments would be seen. This was taken into account when the
committee was reviewing its figures.
What brought the greatest relief since last month was the state's
payment on a growing backlog. The state subsidizes the salaries for
some of the county positions to one degree or another. Payment was
almost or entirely caught up on the largest delayed payments: for
the state's attorney, chief probation officer and in assistance to
the victim witness program.
There was some discussion of the differences between what other
revenues or expenses are in, but it appears the numbers are pretty
close, and are up.
"No matter how you chase it around, it's still good news,"
Carlton said. And Ruben agreed.
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While preparing the fiscal year budget last September, the
committee was struggling to attain a balanced budget. The auditor
had been recommending to grow the general fund back to safer limits,
and the committee was on their toes anticipating economy-related
revenue shortfalls.
A meeting was called with department heads. The committee
explained what was needed and asked the department heads and
officials to each shave their budget by 5 percent. The officials
agreed and the board was able to pass a balanced budget. Since the
beginning of December, department heads have complied in keeping to
their budgets. Each has held down costs and many have been staying
under budget.
[By
JAN YOUNGQUIST]
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