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Liberty County reports healthy reserves; commissioners discuss SPLOST, T-SPLOST and tax-relief option
Summary
County finance staff told commissioners the county has collected about 96% of budgeted revenues through April and holds 6.5 months of operating expenses in unreserved fund balance; commissioners discussed ongoing SPLOST and T‑SPLOST receipts and a proposed sales-tax measure for property tax relief.
Samantha, the county finance director, told the Liberty County Board of Commissioners that as of April the county had collected approximately 96% of its budgeted revenues and spent about 78% of budgeted expenditures.
The finance presentation, given during the board's regular meeting, outlined that the county currently holds an unreserved general fund balance equal to about 6.5 months of operating expenses, up from about 5.6 months at the same point last year. Samantha said the county showed revenues over expenditures for the year of roughly $11.3 million and noted that several departments are running ahead of schedule but “there are not currently any departments that are causing finance any concern.”
County officials and commissioners spent the discussion reviewing the county's special sales-tax proceeds. Samantha reported SPLOST 7 collections of $1,190,000 for April and $27,200,000 total collected to date, with $16,700,000 spent on SPLOST projects. She said T‑SPLOST (transportation SPLOST) had another strong month and that total T‑SPLOST collections to date were about $53,100,000, with roughly $24,800,000 expended on transportation and road projects.
The conversation moved from monthly reports to policy: commissioners asked how often sales-tax project reports are published and where the public can find them. Samantha said SPLOST reporting is required at year-end and that the county includes SPLOST results in its annual audit; she also said the SPLOST report for the fiscal year ending in June must be published by Dec. 31 and that audit reports are posted on the county website.
Commissioners also debated a separate sales-tax measure intended to reduce property taxes. Chairman Mueller warned voters that rejecting the local option for property-tax relief would forfeit potential property-tax reductions, saying, “If the citizen should vote down FLOST, then they are giving up property tax relief because that's the only thing that can be used for.” Other commissioners stressed outreach and seeing project lists early so municipalities and residents can plan.
The finance director said the solid-waste enterprise shows a year-to-date net loss of about $188,000 that includes a noncash depreciation entry of about $397,000; excluding depreciation, she said revenues cover cash outlays. She also noted a prior unfavorable variance in the victim-witness special revenue fund that is diminishing as the fiscal year progresses.
The board did not take formal new policy action at the meeting on SPLOST reporting or the property-tax proposal; commissioners requested additional comparative data for revenues and interest earnings from prior fiscal years to assist budget deliberations.
Looking ahead, Samantha told the board she will provide more detail on distributions and comparative numbers to inform the county's budget decisions and SPLOST project planning.
