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| 1/1/2010 2:25:00 PM | Email this article • Print this article | Commissioners adopt 2010 budget at Dec. 22 meeting
Lynda James
Correspondent
On Dec. 22, Park County's Board of County Commissioners adopted the 2010 projected county budget with projected expenses of about $31.9 million and projected revenue of about $28.9 million.
The commissioners approved a mill levy of 15.873 for 2010, which will generate about $7.4 million in property taxes.
Most of the rest of the projected revenue is from state and federal program funding and grants, as well as fees charged by county departments.
With projected expenses exceeding projected revenue by about $3 million, that $3 million will come from individual fund balances, which are similar to savings accounts in the funds since the balances represent money in the funds that have not been spent in previous years.
Total fund balances are projected to drop to about $9.8 million from about $12.9 million at the end of 2009 and $13.9 million at the end of 2008.
Expenses for the adopted 2010 projected budget exceed expenses for the adopted 2009 projected budget by $3.5 million.
The 2010 adopted budget expenses are also about $4.8 million more than the preliminary budget presented to the commissioners in October. Revenue projections for 2010 have also increased by about $2.3 million since October.
Two funds contribute to most of the increase, Capital Projects and Road and Bridge.
The Capital Projects Fund had no expenses in the preliminary budget, and it now has $1.8 million to build the new 911 communications building that is needed after the McNamara building was closed for safety reasons.
The Road and Bridge Fund's October 2010 preliminary budget projected about $4.7 million in expenses and $4.3 million in revenue.
The December adopted 2010 budget projects about $6.0 million in revenue and $6.6 million in expenses.
That compares to 2009 projections in the Road and Bridge budget of about $4.8 million in revenue and about $5.1 million in expenses.
The increase in Road and Bridge 2010 expenses is attributed mostly to equipment purchases. About $600,000 of the increased 2010 Road and Bridge revenue is from an allocation from FASTER (Funding Advancement for Surface Transportation and Economic Recovery), in which the state increased vehicle registration fees. In addition, the commissioners authorized a loan to purchase equipment, Road and Bridge Director Dave Kintz told The Flume.
Kintz said that equipment purchases include machinery to chip and seal roads plus three or four used graders, depending on price.
According to the Schedule of Lease Purchase Agreements on page 174 of the 2010 budget document, Road and Bridge is also paying off equipment purchased in 2008 and 2009. About $1.49 million is still owed on those lease-purchase agreements, with $531,000 of it to be paid in 2010.
The largest fund, the General Fund, accounts for most county departments. General Fund revenue for 2010 is projected at about $12.7 million, and General Fund expenses are projected at about $13.3 million. That is about the same as the 2009 adopted budget.
According to the 2010 budget, revenue for the jail is projected at about $1.7 million and expenses are projected at about $2.7 million, which translates to a deficit of about $1 million. That's about the same deficit that the jail had in 2009.
The lease-purchase agreement page of the budget document shows that about $3.2 million is still owed on the jail. That agreement will reach maturity in 2015. For 2010, $613,800 will be paid on the debt for the jail.
Most additional requests made in October for the 2010 budget were not adopted, according to Chief Administrative Officer Sandy Berryman.
Of the 10 new staff positions or upgrade requests, only one was approved. That is a new position of executive director of the South Park Heritage Program in the Office of Historical Preservation.
Departments that did not get approval for new positions included the jail, 911 communications, the Assessor's Office, and Environmental Health.
Several departments had requested a total of 15 new vehicles. The Sheriff's Office was authorized to buy five new vehicles out of the seven new vehicles requested, according to Berryman. Requests for vehicles from the Treasurer's Office, the Coroner and Emergency Management were not funded.
Development Services Coordinator Tom Eisenman told The Flume that Planning, Code Enforcement and Environmental Health Departments were each given $15,000 to purchase used vehicles. But $50,000 requested to clean up properties with code violations was not granted.
The Clerk's Office request to use money saved in the office's 2009 budget for employee pay raises in 2010 was also denied.
No pay raises are included in the 2010 budget. According to the finance director's message in the budget document, the possibility of employee raises will be evaluated in June.
The commissioners did not approve $11,000 for a new sound recording system in the commissioners meeting room, but decided to look for a less expensive system.
The Human Services Fund, the third-largest fund, had revenue and expenses stay about the same as in the October preliminary 2010 budget. That is $4.2 million for revenue and $4.6 million for expenses.
That is about $650,000 more than the expenses in the 2009 budget, with revenue of about $4.2 million set for the 2009 budget.
The fourth-largest fund is the Self Insurance Fund that covers medical insurance. Revenue is projected at about $2.7 million, and expenses are projected at about $2.6 million for 2010. That is an increase from about $2.1 million in revenue and $2.4 million in expenses for 2009.
The chart on Page 1, which shows fund revenue and expenses and fund balances for three years, can be supplemented with additional information by viewing the entire document on the county's Web site at www.parkco.us.
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