BY MARK J. CRAWFORD
Bradford County commissioners received a midyear budget update earlier this month, looking at three of the board’s biggest departments.
Both the general fund and road department are expected to spend out of their fund balances to cover costs.
General Fund
The general fund began the fiscal year with a $17.36 million fund balance. The county realized just over $10 million in revenue during the first half of the year. Expenditures — including $967,000 for personnel, $1.63 million in operating costs and $8.4 million in transfers — amounted to $11.1 million, resulting in a $1.1 million use of the fund balance.
If these trends continue, LaFollette has projected a nearly $2.2 million use of fund balance, ending the year at $15.2 million.
Bradford County Fire Rescue
Bradford County Fire Rescue has increased its fund balance during the first half of the year. Beginning the fiscal year with a $806,000 fund balance, nearly $281,000 was added to the account, for a total of nearly $1.1 million. Revenue has outpaced expenditures so far this year, with $3.99 million coming in and $3.7 million spent.
Recurring revenue, including charges for service, accounted for much of that revenue — $1.46 million — but most of the rest was a $1.95 million transfer of revenue from the general fund used to balance the budget. Personnel costs accounted for more than $3 million of the $3.7 million in expenditures.
LaFollette projected BCFR would end the year at $1.3 million.
Public Works
Like the general fund, the road department has also used more than $211,000 of its fund balance during the first half of the fiscal year, going from $1.66 million to nearly $1.45 million. Revenues of $1.15 million were outpaced by $1.36 million in expenditures.
Those expenditures included $619,000 for personnel, $331,000 for operations and the remainder for gasoline, diesel and materials such as lime rock and asphalt.
The fund balance is expected to down to $1.24 million by year’s end.
Raises for employees
Commissioners approved adding a 5% pay increase for employees to the budget for 2024-25 on May 16.
Staff had asked for direction as they work on a spending plan to present to the board for consideration.
Staff calculated the cost of a 3%, 4% and 5% raise, which came to $90,740, $120,987 and $151,233.
After some discussion, commissioners chose to add $151,233 for the 5% raise.
Commissioner Chris Dougherty voted in favor, but he also raised concerns about costs being up across the board and the commissioners’ desire to lower property taxes.
“Let’s consider cutting our millage back and then trying to figure out how we can live within it,” he said.
Clerk of Court Denny Thompson said tax revenue should be more than enough to cover the cost of the wage increase.
Commission Chairwoman Carolyn Spooner referred to it both as a cost of living adjustment for employees and a reward for their work.
The listed amounts cover the board’s departments only and do not cover the cost of the raises the constitutional officers budget for their employees. It also doesn’t include any increases for fire rescue, which are covered by the collective bargaining agreement with IAFF Local 4315.
