Franklin County started its new fiscal year Thursday with a 2015-2016 fiscal year budget in place.
The tax levies and budget were approved during a special meeting held Tuesday afternoon.
The County Board approved a balanced budget of $7.6 million, an increase of about $30,000, according to Treasurer John Gulley.
Gulley, County Chairman Randall Crocker and Finance Committee Chairman Alan Price were faced with several challenges in preparing the proposed budget, approved unanimously by the Board.
“The cost of doing business goes up every year, faster than what our revenues go up. And when I say the cost of business, I mean health insurance premiums, employee salaries, cost of food for inmates at the jail,” Gulley said.
The sheriff’s department budget of $2.8 million represents about 37 percent of the total budget.
Gulley explained that since Franklin County follows enactment of the Property Tax Extension Limitation Law (PTELL), real estate tax revenues can only increase at a percentage equal to the change in the Consumer Price Index. This year that rate has been set at .7 percent. Gulley added there should be no noticeable change in real estate taxes as a result of the increase.
“That’s great for taxpayers," he said. "On the flip side, that’s the only source of revenue the county really has any control over. We’re not a home rule unit like the City of Benton or the City of West Frankfort. We can’t add another gas tax or sales tax. We’re handcuffed as far as revenues are concerned. Our only choice to balance the budget most of the time is cutting expenditures and we’ve been in a cutting expenditures mode for 10 years.
“You get to the point where you can only cut so much without affecting the basic services of county government,” he said.
Several of the county offices have not replaced employees through attrition in recent years, he added.
Levies were increased at the maximum rate of 4.99 percent. Anything above that amount would’ve required a truth in taxation hearing.
“We won’t get 4.99 percent. We’re only going to get what PTELL will allow us to get. What’s normal is for entities like the County Board or school boards is to raise the levy by the full amount allowed with the expectation that we won’t get all of that,” Gulley said.
“If the projections on our income work out, we’ll be fine. The problem is the unknowns, and my concern is the state may get a little tougher on reimbursements without a budget. I wish the state would approve a budget and take the uncertainties out of the budget,” Crocker said. The chairman said the county may reopen the budget halfway through the budget year, if necessary.
“We’ve made some assumptions in this budget that the state is going to meet its obligations. If state government doesn’t meet its obligations we will have to reopen this budget and make further cuts,” Gulley added.
County officials are considering suing the state for $200,000 in flood control money for property in the Rend Lake vicinity. The money would come from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. Gulley said the state has been “sitting” on that money for nearly two years. The matter has been turned over to State’s Attorney Evan Owens for further action.
Crocker said FOP and Laborers union representatives have been sympathetic toward the county during contract talks.
“We have seen some signs of that and we’ve had good relationships with both unions. I hope it will strengthen and we all try to get through this difficult time,” Crocker said, noting a new contract with the FOP will be negotiated during this fiscal year.
The county did not set aside any monies in the budget for rehabilitation of the Park Street building or the Campbell Building. The Park Street property was donated to the county and the renovations came out of this past year’s budget. The county moved the Emergency Management Agency office inside that building. Estimated renovations of $500,000 for the Campbell Building are going to be added on a $300,000 loan as a result of a new HVAC system at the jail and a new roof at the Campbell Building. The debt service on that loan is about $50,000 per year.
“That’s not going to affect the bottom line of the budget, it’s just going to stretch out the terms of the loan out over more years,” Gulley said, adding the payment should be about the same.
