No notes yet on last night's mtg. but the 2015 Budget was approved on a 4-1 vote. Here is Ray Gasperson' comments as to why he vote against this year budget (the lone descenting vote). I, for one, agree with Ray's concern about not using the "rainy day fund" to balance the budget. What do YOU think?
"I wish to note that County Manager and staff worked diligently on the 2015-16 Budget Ordinance. In my opinion, this budget conforms to the directions given by those in the majority on this Board.
I'm hopeful that as we move forward, the next Budget Ordinance (that will be voted on in June of next year) will take corrective action to reverse, what I believe to be, an unsustainable trend that has developed over the last 3 years.
1. The first red flag that I am worried about is the dramatic drop in the Rainy Day fund. One year ago this fund was above 40%. It will likely be well under 25% at the end of this month. We should never become complacent about keeping a healthy Rainy Day fund balance. Let's remember it only 15 years ago when our County had a Rainy Day fund balance of 0% and the State was ready to come in and take over our finances.
2. A second red flag for me is, for the third year in a row, balancing the budget has required an increasingly large transfer of taxpayer money from the Rainy Day fund. And this is despite taking an aggressive approach on projecting revenues. In my opinion, it's far wiser to take a conservative approach when projecting revenues and to refrain from using Rainy Day Funds to balance the budget.
3. A third red flag I see is the continuation of greatly underfunding our Capital Reserve Fund. This budget has only set aside $50,000 for dam repairs. That number should be $200,000 and there is no money being set aside for other capital projects that we know are coming, such as a new jail.
Finally, I hope that the Budget Ordinance that will be voted on in June of 2016 will be much closer to my vision, which is: Polk County government should be effective, efficient and small."
Ray Gasperson
Polk County Commissioner
"I wish to note that County Manager and staff worked diligently on the 2015-16 Budget Ordinance. In my opinion, this budget conforms to the directions given by those in the majority on this Board.
I'm hopeful that as we move forward, the next Budget Ordinance (that will be voted on in June of next year) will take corrective action to reverse, what I believe to be, an unsustainable trend that has developed over the last 3 years.
1. The first red flag that I am worried about is the dramatic drop in the Rainy Day fund. One year ago this fund was above 40%. It will likely be well under 25% at the end of this month. We should never become complacent about keeping a healthy Rainy Day fund balance. Let's remember it only 15 years ago when our County had a Rainy Day fund balance of 0% and the State was ready to come in and take over our finances.
2. A second red flag for me is, for the third year in a row, balancing the budget has required an increasingly large transfer of taxpayer money from the Rainy Day fund. And this is despite taking an aggressive approach on projecting revenues. In my opinion, it's far wiser to take a conservative approach when projecting revenues and to refrain from using Rainy Day Funds to balance the budget.
3. A third red flag I see is the continuation of greatly underfunding our Capital Reserve Fund. This budget has only set aside $50,000 for dam repairs. That number should be $200,000 and there is no money being set aside for other capital projects that we know are coming, such as a new jail.
Finally, I hope that the Budget Ordinance that will be voted on in June of 2016 will be much closer to my vision, which is: Polk County government should be effective, efficient and small."
Ray Gasperson
Polk County Commissioner