HomeMy WebLinkAboutC.054.93010_1117 (2)It was the consensus of the commissioners to request that the planning board re-
review the matter. (The clerk will notify the planning supervisor.)
COUNTY MANAGER'S REPORT: County Manager Mashburn then
presented the proposed Fiscal Year 2003-04 Iredell County Budget Message. (The
document, in its entirety, is as follows.
Budget Message
FY 2003-2004
The recommended budget.for FY 2003-2004 totals $110,737,630. If compared to the
original budget approved by the conuni,ssioners jbr 2002-2003, this is an 11.3%
increase. If compared to the revised budget,for 2002-2003, this is a 13,7% decrease.
To really understand what is happening, one has to look at each line item, compare the
minutes for the entire year to see where there have been budget changes approved by
the board, and look at what is being recommended for FY 2003-2004.
The real question should not be how much the expenditures have increased front one
near to the next, but how much has the demand increased and how much more does it
cost to provide the same level of service. I wish it were easy to provide simple answers
to these simple questions, but the best that can he (]out, in an introductory, overview is to
hit some of the highlights and then to provide additional details as we review the budget
over the near few weeks.
A good place to begin is to do a comparison of the schedules between last year and this.
First of all, let's look at SCHEDULE A, the fund balance. At the beginning of 2002-
2003, it was estimated the fund balance for June 30, 2003, would he 10.83%. Now that
the Year is nearing an end, we estimate a slight decrease (10.79%); however, the actual
dollar increase is over $1.2 million, or put another way, we have a 10.8% increase in
our undesignated reserves. During a year of weak economy, is it not a positive: sign
that we have actually been able to grow the fund balance.
Next, take a look at SCHEDULE B which shows the increase in the number of
Personnel recommended. On the surface, it would appear that the county is increasing
the number ofpeople working in county government by 7.8%. In actuality, the increase
is less than 3.5%, and that includes adding an additional twelve (12) jailers to begin the
operation of a jail annex, an expansion that is needed because our present jail facility is
so overcrowded. If the new jailers were removed, the actual increase then would be
less than 2%, and even most of this increase is coverer/ hi state and federal funds, just
as are the new positions showing up for the first time in the transportation services
department. For FY 2002-2003, these were contract positions, but in order to improve
services and reduce cost, the commissioners agreed to bring transportation services in-
house.
The salary increase per employee is the same as last tear - L5%. Some money is also
set aside for merits; however, as a percentage of due total, it is reduced somewhat.
SCHEDULE C shows how much we plan to spend in the genera! fund for capital outlay.
This year we propose a significant increase in capital outlay - about $2 million more in
the genera! fund. One has to remember, however, that last year we reduced capital
outlay by about $2 million from the previous year, so basically, we are funding pent up
demand. Ifall requests had been recommended, it could have been another $2 million.
SCHEDULE D shows how much more county funds we are spending, and where it is
being spent. Just looking at the raw numbers, we are putting almost $9 million more
coun(v dollars into the budget than we did in FY 2002-2003. In addition, restricted
taxes and fees are up by about $2 million; both of these revenue sources have increased
12% and 1512% respectively. Federal and state revenues have only increased 2.98%,
and as a percent of the total, went from 12.9ib to 11.9%. Taking a closer look, we can
see that over $4 million of the count v increase is gohug,for increased funding for the
schools, $/ million is for the sheriffs office, and $1 million for the jail. Social services