No tax increase; up to 4% pay raise for county employees
The Fayette County Board of Commissioners is expected to vote June 25 at its next regular meeting to approve a $50,109,164 general fund budget for the 2015 fiscal year.
That number is $397,540 below projected expenditures, which means adding to the fund balance and bringing it over the $26 million mark, County Manager Steve Rapson said during his presentation at the June 11 public hearing on the budget.
That public hearing was the first of two required before adoption. The second hearing will be at the beginning of the June 25 regular board meeting, after which a vote is expected.
When factoring in all of the various county budget categories (911, water, etc.), the total budget comes to $88,217,075.
At one point in the presentation Rapson displayed a chart showing the changes in the general fund budget over the past several years. The low points were in 2012 and 2013, when revenues were just over $42 million and expenditures were about $3 million above that. Revenues have been above expenditures each year since, the chart showed.
The presentation began with a review of several positive economic trends, such a drop in unemployment and increases in new housing starts and personal income. A majority of local governments across the state have provided pay increases for their employees and implemented wellness programs or incentives to help reduce healthcare costs, Rapson said.
Among the principles followed in preparing the proposed budget, one-time revenues are not used to fund current expenditures thus avoiding pursuing short-term benefits at the risk of creating future funding issues, and only current revenues are used to pay current expenditures so there is not a “built-in increase” for ongoing expenditures, according to the county manager’s report.
The proposed budget uses no unassigned fund balance and has no property tax increase, Rapson said. County employees will receive a 2-percent cost-of-living adjustment and a 2-percent one-time payment incentive contingent upon meeting budget expectations.
The county healthcare plan is no longer running at a deficit, as plan changes have eliminated shortfalls, according to the budget report.
After some details were provided regarding personnel changes and employee benefits as well as capital expenditures, there was virtually no opposition from the citizens in attendance at the public hearing.
A couple of comments from the public led to a discussion of the merits of the Tahoe vs. the Charger with regard to the Sheriff’s vehicle fleet, with county officials pointing out that the upfront costs of those vehicles are much closer than one might think, with the Tahoe not being the gas guzzler it may appear to be while having fewer ongoing maintenance issues than its counterpart.
The budget presentation from the June 11 public hearing can be reviewed in a 38-page PowerPoint document, the link to which is on the home page of the county’s website, www.fayettecountyga.gov.
