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HomeMy WebLinkAboutC.054.93011_0715 (2)come up with the additional either by reducing the fund balance or cutting expenditures elsewhere. School funding is also showing a significant increase in funding. When you look at total school funding, you will find a $3.3 million increase. Put another way, this increase is equivalent to almost two cents of our tax rate. A further breakdown of the school budget will be discussed later in the message. When you add to the above an increase of over $230, 000 to operate the jail annex, over $250,000 to reimburse the city of Statesville for debt on the airport, almost $900,000 for the desperately needed EMS expansion, almost a $1,500,000 increase in the cost of providing library services, and putting $1,500,000 back into our capital reserve fund, then you don't have to look hard to see that decisions have already been made that added millions of dollars to the proposed budget. When you look closely at out normal operating expense, you will see little increase, and sometimes, even significant decreases. School Appropriation: The proposed current expense budget calls for a 6.73% increase in per pupil expenditures, plus growth. For the Iredell-Statesville Schools, that is an overall 8.32% increase; and for the Mooresville Graded Schools, that is an 11.36% increase in total current expense funding. When you add in expenses for capital construction and Mitchell College appropriations, the overall increase is $3,313,511 or 7.27% over the 04-05 budget. Not included in this budget proposal is the $3.8 million increase recommended by Commissioner Robertson to set aside in a capital reserve fund for future school construction. This kind of increase can only be accomplished if the tax rate is increased by about 2.5 cents. This may very well be what is needed to show an adequate funding stream for future growth; however, based on the approved capital projects plan, the fund may not grow fast enough to meet the needs as identified. Personnel: Schedule B of the proposed budget shows that 54% positions were requested for next year. The budget, however, only recommends an increase of 38'92 positions. This is less than a 5% increase in new positions, and the majority of that increase is in Health and Human Services and Emergency Services. Over % of the increase is just to staff one additional ambulance and two additional QRVs. This is necessary to meet the increased demand for services and to cut down on response times to remote and congested parts of the county. In addition, 1 have recommended 4% in salary plan adjustments and merit pay. A more definitive proposal will be presented during the budget workshop. Economic Development: The proposed budget reflects a 10% increase in the appropriations of our economic development areas. However, the larger portions of this budget are for economic incentives ($836,800) and appropriations to the Statesville Airport ($540,898). Even with that said, the economic development budget for 05-06 is almost $300,000 less than 04-05. It should be noted that the Greater Statesville Development Corporation has requested $25,000 of a two-year commitment to develop a program to support growth of existing industry. This request is not included in the recommendation; however, in light of the fact that the county appropriated $50,000 of additional dollars to the Mooresville Chamber of Commerce, it is the expectation that the same would occur for the GSDC. Closing: The budget, as presented, reflects the current economic conditions, and subscribes to the conservative nature of the board of commissioners and the citizens of Iredell County. We have seen some improvement in the economy of the county, yet we have further to go before we can feel safe that even once approved, we will be able to hold the course for the entire year. Mr. Mashburn said he was proposing to balance the budget by using 2.8 million of the fund balance. He said the unreserved fund balance of July 1, 2004 was $14,942,000 and the balance at June 30, 2005 was estimated to be $17 million. He said this would give the county an 11.17% unreserved fund balance, and this would probably be adequate. Appreciation was expressed to Finance Director Susan Blumenstein for her assistance in the budget preparation.