Work Continues On 2008 County Budget

Vond Hall, Fulton County administrator, said he is hard at work on a 2008 county general fund budget, which, as of last week, was about $600,000 in the hole.

"The requests (for funds) are outpacing revenues," Hall said.

"What I'm doing now is trying to figure out what is the absolute minimum, and what's mandated."

This year, Hall was able to utilize some credits Fulton County had received to fund child welfare, which includes children placed in court custody or in foster care.

Those credits ran out in October, forcing county officials to dip into the general fund cash to fund part of October, November, and December.

"That's part of that $600,000," he said.

Carryover

Actually, the county will be able to finish 2007 in the black, but the trick is finishing the year with enough cash to carry the first three months of the next year.

Because the county doesn't receive funds from the first property tax collection of each year until April, there must be enough cash on hand to operate for the first three months of the year.

This cash is known as the "carryover."

Hall said the rule of thumb is to start the year with about 25% of the total budget available in cash. In Fulton County's case, that's about $2.75 million. At the start of this year, Hall said the county had $2,747,721.87 in the bank.

"I have operated on less than $2 million, but it's not something I'm excited about," he said.

As of last week, Hall said the county's general fund had spent about $10.6 million; with two additional payrolls to meet in December, he anticipated the total expenditures for 2007 would be between $11.2 and $11.3 million.

As of last week, the county had received $10.5 million in revenue. Hall anticipated the county's share of sales tax revenue would generate an additional $350,000; court costs, fines, and other revenue will probably push total revenue to about $11 million to $11.1 million.

With expenditures exceeding revenues, Hall said the county has to eat into the money set aside for the carryover.

"Each year, we've been eroding our carryover. At the end of 2006, we had $2.8 million, so we eroded that amount by about $100,000.

Saving

County officials have done a number of things to try and cut expenses.

The Fulton County commissioners converted the employee health insurance to a high-deductible plan with a health savings account.

"We've tried to make larger users pay a greater percentage of the cost," he said.

The commissioners have also placed a freeze on the purchase of vehicles.

The freeze does not apply to certain areas, such as patrol cars for the county sheriff department.

"We're not replacing any rolling stock," Hall said.

The county is not spending a large amount on building maintenance, but Hall said county officials did a good job of fixing up county buildings when funds were available, so they don't need as much work now.

The county is also in the process of installing an Internet telephone system, which places and receives telephone calls via the Internet, rather than leased telephone lines. Anticipated savings will pay for the system.

The county is also in the midst of an energy efficiency program that modifies the lighting and heating systems in the county buildings. That program is anticipated to cut 25% off utility bills.

Also, when a county employee retires or otherwise leaves his position, that person is not being replaced, or one full-time position with full benefits is being replaced with two parttime people who do not receive county benefits.

"We're doing more work with fewer people," Hall said.

That creates a problem, because county employees aren't available to wait on citizens who need information or to answer phone calls.

Hall said county officials had done a nice job in that when they realized revenue was starting to go flat, they began flatlining their budgets. But costs have gone up, while revenue has stayed flat.

Additional Revenue

Over the summer, the commissioners discussed a halfpercent increase in the county sales tax to provide additional revenue for the county budget. That would raise Fulton County sales tax from 6.5% to 7%. The state of Ohio gets 5.5% of the total; Fulton County would get 1.5%.

The commissioners held a vote on whether or not to put the tax before voters on Aug. 16. While the motion passed 2- 1, with Paul Barnaby, county commissioner, voting against, it was decided not to put the tax on the ballot if the commissioners couldn't unanimously agree.

Hall said while bringing the sales tax question back before the commissioners had not been discussed, "It has to be on the table," he said.

The commissioners will discuss the budget again Thursday, Dec. 13; by that time, Hall said he should have more detailed figures available.- David Pugh