Commissioners approve final 2011 resolutions in special session
Lead Summary
By
Brandy Chandler-brandychandler@gmail.com
The Highland County Board of Commissioners met Friday morning in a special session for budget discussions, where they passed four resolutions regarding appropriations, transfers and reductions. At the conclusion of the meeting it was reported that the general fund carryover into 2012 is approximately $437,189.
The commissioners passed resolutions authorizing additional appropriations within the Highland County Engineer's budget for capital projects. Highland County Auditor Bill Fawley explained that the appropriations were to properly show the funds that Highland County is receiving for projects funded through the Department of Public Works and the Ohio Department of Transportation. In the past, the county has only shown the matching portion, as that was part of the engineer's budget. In county's most recent audit, it was suggested they start showing the cost of the entire project, even though it is money that never technically makes it into the engineer's budget.
"We'd never had that show up in an audit before," Fawley said. "Nothing was misappropriated, nothing was misspent. We just had not reported it before, and the auditors said we had to show it because it's money that is being paid into Highland County projects. This isn't additional money (the engineer) had to spend."
The commissioners passed the resolution 3-0 to appropriate $1,561,477 from unappropriated funds to the capital improvement fund. They also passed a second resolution 3-0 authorizing the appropriation of $925,321 from unappropriated funds into the county engineer's projects fund to document funding from ODOT.
A resolution reducing the 2011 county budget by $4,952,624 was also passed 3-0, and Fawley explained that the legislation was a year-end accounting necessity, because if a department did not spent the entire amount appropriated, the budget has to be reduced to the amount that was actually received. The items that were effected were not part of the general fund, he said.
A resolution was passed 3-0 authorizing an the transfer of $22,180 from unappropriated funds to various debt retirement funds.
The commissioners praised the efforts of the county department heads for their work in keeping spending to a minimum so the county might stay under budget.
"We are extremely blessed with our department heads," said commission president Shane Wilkin. "Looking ahead, we're substantially better off than we were in 2009 when we had $7,800 left after we paid January bills and had the first payroll. I'm not saying that we're fantastic, but we've doing better, and we're moving forward. It's nice to see some successes in the county."
Fawley said that he agreed that praise was needed for county leadership.
"We could not have gotten through if the department heads had not been so cooperative," Fawley said. "(The commissioners) have been open and kind of up front about everything, and we've been very fortunate to have department heads who have been so understanding."
Commissioner Tom Horst said, "I don't know if it's going to get better, but we'll at least hold our own."
Horst said that the sales tax was what really kept the county, "afloat," and that every month when the numbers came in, "I was the pessimist that was convinced the bottom was going to drop out. Every month I'd say, 'this is going to be the month,' but I was always wrong and it didn't drop. Our sales tax revenue stayed up $100,000 over budget. That was very fortunate for us.
"I think the best thing to do is hope for the best," said Commissioner Jeremy Shaffer.
Horst said that he is proud that the county employees have continued to work had to provide quality services, "even though the employees have taken a big hit with their insurance going up and cuts in pay because of reduced hours, but they still get the job done for Highland County."
Horst said that he has predicted that 2013-2014 would be when the economy starts to really turn around, and all three commissioners said that recent job growth is a sign that things are starting to look up. The commissioners referenced jobs at PAS Technologies, C-Mold, Johnson Controls, Huhtamaki, and the Greenfield railroad expansion project, along with the successes of locally owned businesses such as Beech Street on Main, Janie's Closet and TwentyFour eXchange.
"People outside of Highland County are starting to notice everything we have to offer," Wilkin said.
The Highland County Board of Commissioners met Friday morning in a special session for budget discussions, where they passed four resolutions regarding appropriations, transfers and reductions. At the conclusion of the meeting, it was reported that the general fund carryover into 2012 is approximately $437,189.
The commissioners passed resolutions authorizing additional appropriations within the Highland County Engineer's budget for capital projects. Highland County Auditor Bill Fawley explained that the appropriations were to properly show the funds that Highland County is receiving for projects funded through the Department of Public Works and the Ohio Department of Transportation. In the past, the county has only shown the matching portion, as that was part of the engineer's budget. In county's most recent audit, it was suggested they start showing the cost of the entire project, even though it is money that never technically makes it into the engineer's budget.
"We'd never had that show up in an audit before," Fawley said. "Nothing was misappropriated, nothing was misspent. We just had not reported it before, and the auditors said we had to show it because it's money that is being paid into Highland County projects. This isn't additional money (the engineer) had to spend."
The commissioners passed the resolution 3-0 to appropriate $1,561,477 from unappropriated funds to the capital improvement fund. They also passed a second resolution 3-0 authorizing the appropriation of $925,321 from unappropriated funds into the county engineer's projects fund to document funding from ODOT.
A resolution reducing the 2011 county budget by $4,952,624 was also passed 3-0, and Fawley explained that the legislation was a year-end accounting necessity because if a department did not spent the entire amount appropriated, the budget has to be reduced to the amount that was actually received. The items that were affected were not part of the general fund, he said.
A resolution was passed 3-0 authorizing an the transfer of $22,180 from unappropriated funds to various debt retirement funds.
The commissioners praised the efforts of the county department heads for their work in keeping spending to a minimum so the county might stay under budget.
"We are extremely blessed with our department heads," said commission president Shane Wilkin. "Looking ahead, we're substantially better off than we were in 2009 when we had $7,800 left after we paid January bills and had the first payroll. I'm not saying that we're fantastic, but we've doing better, and we're moving forward. It's nice to see some successes in the county."
Fawley said that he agreed that praise was needed for county leadership.
"We could not have gotten through if the department heads had not been so cooperative," Fawley said. "(The commissioners) have been open and kind of upfront about everything, and we've been very fortunate to have department heads who have been so understanding."
Commissioner Tom Horst said, "I don't know if it's going to get better, but we'll at least hold our own."
Horst said that the sales tax was what really kept the county "afloat," and that every month when the numbers came in, "I was the pessimist that was convinced the bottom was going to drop out. Every month I'd say, 'this is going to be the month,' but I was always wrong and it didn't drop. Our sales tax revenue stayed up $100,000 over budget. That was very fortunate for us.
"I think the best thing to do is hope for the best," said Commissioner Jeremy Shaffer.
Horst said that he is proud that the county employees have continued to work hard to provide quality services, saying that "even though the employees have taken a big hit with their insurance going up and cuts in pay because of reduced hours, they still get the job done for Highland County."
Horst said that he has predicted that 2013-2014 would be when the economy starts to really turn around, and all three commissioners said that recent job growth is a sign that things are starting to look up. The commissioners referenced jobs at PAS Technologies, C-Mold, Johnson Controls, Huhtamaki and the Greenfield railroad expansion project, along with the successes of locally owned businesses such as Beech Street on Main, Janie's Closet and TwentyFour eXchange.
"People outside of Highland County are starting to notice everything we have to offer," Wilkin said.
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