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County consolidates bridge funds to steady road and bridge cash flow, staff warns timing matters
Summary
Finance staff said the county merged special bridge accounts into the road-and-bridge fund to smooth cash flows amid timing gaps in state distributions; commissioners were cautioned that asphalt and other projects depend on distribution timing and sales tax receipts.
County finance staff told commissioners Monday that cash-flow timing forces some funds to be managed together so public works can pay crews and contractors between state revenue distributions.
The presenter said Bourbon County receives certain state distributions in January and again in June; until June, departments may need reserves to start spring road work. To ease cash-flow pressure, staff said they consolidated three bridge-related funds into the road-and-bridge fund last year.
"So what we what we determined to do is we had 3 funds, road and bridge, special bridge, and bridge and culvert. So we took the special bridge and bridge and culvert and collapsed them into the road and bridge fund to kinda help us keep some of that cash flow going," the presenter said, adding the consolidation was in place as of March and is helping pay seasonal needs for asphalt and culvert work.
Why it matters: public works projects are sensitive to the county's receipts schedule. Staff said asphalt projects are cheaper to do in June–July when crews and pricing align with distributions; when sales tax receipts dip, planned projects may be delayed or cut.
Commissioners heard that sales tax fell sharply last year — one presenter said sales tax receipts were "about $300,000 down" compared with the prior year — and that can force project reductions. Staff recommended building targeted reserves for road work and using encumbrance accounting to track planned obligations.
Ending: The presenter said the consolidation has improved liquidity for public works and recommended continued monitoring of sales tax and distribution timing; no formal budget reallocation vote was recorded in the transcript.
