BY TRACY LEE TATE
Times Editor
LAKE BUTLER — The Union County Board of Commissioners approved the final draft of the county ad valorem tax millage and the budget for the 2022-23 fiscal year.
At a Final Budget Public Hearing, held before the commissions regular Sept. 19, 2022 meeting the commission first heard a presentation of the proposed aggregate millage for 2022-23, the current rolled-back rate and the current proposed rate as a percent change of the rolled-back rate. The proposed aggregate millage was 10.000 mills, with the rolled-back rate at 9.4800 mills, leaving the proposed rate as a percentage of the rolled-back rate at 5.49%. (The rolled back rate is a calculation that determines how much the county would need to charge to generate the same revenue as in the last budget year.). There was no public comment on the millage and the commission voted unanimously to approve the aggregate millage, the current rolled-back rate and the percentage of the rolled back rate unanimously.
Next for consideration was the budget itself. The first part of the budget consists of the General Fund – non-restricted funds that give the county flexibility to work worth with. For the year, the General Fund will be funded by revenue from Ad Valorem taxes ($2,911,587), monthly and quarterly discretionary sale surtax (totaling $840,223) and a communications surtax ($44,455), (surtax total of $3,796,576), license, franchise and permit fees ($193,500) and intergovernmental funds such as state revenue sharing, license fees on alcoholic beverage, mobile home, insurance agents licenses and sales tax revenues. Also included are funds derived from the state for such things as from the sale of certain license plates and offset funding (which partially compensates the county for the loss of property tax (Ad Valorem) tax revenue from property used by the Department of Corrections. The total of this intergovernmental revenue is $3,348,002.
Other revenue sources include charges for services by county offices, including items like copies made of documents, cost of incarceration and donations toward cemetery maintenance, totaling $78,000.
Court revenues are also included, including $17,000 from the Traffic Court Improvement Fund, Legal Aid funding, State Court Innovations revenue and other sources related to crime prevention and driver education safety. Added to all this are the revenues from transfers from reserves, transfers from the SHIP account for administrative services and grants. The total of the 2022-23 budget is $8,911,589.
Expenditures are listed beginning with commissioner’s salaries ($31,000 each), FICA taxes, retirement contributions, health and life insurance for the five commissioners, workers compensation, travel and BOCC training, totaling $300,227.
$2,298,404 in budgeted for administrative and financial expenses, covering everything from salaries and retirement to postage, utilities, equipment rentals, insurance, repairs to county owned buildings, office supplies, equipment and attorney fees – totaling $2,298,404.
Every area and department has a detailed listing of items included in the budget to keep them running and able to do their jobs. In addition, there is grant money to be considered.
Currently, the county has about $2.7 million remaining of the ARPS (American Rescue Plan Act) and commissioner is still weighing the purpose to dedicate the money to. So far, they have used some of the funds for unanticipated non-recurring needs, such as a new unit for Emergency Medical Services. The county also has about $5.8 million coming in from one-time grants for specific projects, as well as the normal, recurring grants is receiving from various sources.
The bottom line is that the county has enough money to operate efficiently for the coming fiscal year and to get several special projects (grant funded) such as the addition to the Agricultural Education Facility. That does not mean that there might be problems in the future.
County Clerk of Court and Comptroller Kellie Rhoades reported to the commissioner near the beginning of the budget process that, while the funds were there to support the Union County Road Department in the coming fiscal year that that situation might not be true in future budgets.
“The Road Department is going to have to either decrease expenditures or increase revenue,” Rhoades said. “We are ok for one more year, but after that the department will no longer be self-sufficient with the funds generated by fuel taxes.”
In 2018 the department was having a difficult time keeping employees – in a typical small county problem, people choose better paying jobs in the private sector. The county had to increase wages to remain competitive and obtain a competent staff. This has grown from a total payroll of about $450,000 in 2018 to about $670 in 2021. Rhoades said the problem is not with the administration of the department, which has underspent its budget routinely, but with the increasing demands for higher pay to keep workers with the skills and certifications necessary on the job in Union County. This problem, coupled with rising fuel and equipment costs will soon become a problem for the county.
