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Campbell County projects modest local revenue growth; April 1 budget deadline set
Summary
County Administrator Frank Waters told the joint meeting that local revenues are projected to increase slightly but cautioned that assessment-ratio changes and other commitments will nearly offset gains; the county plans to adopt a budget by April 1 to allow tax ticket processing.
Frank Waters, the county administrator, presented the county’s local revenue forecast and schedule and cautioned supervisors that headline revenue increases are constrained by assessment-ratio choices and dedicated funds.
"We're scheduled to adopt our budget April 1," Waters said, noting the date is a hard deadline so tax tickets can be generated and mailed. He said the presentation was based on early-December data and that county staff will incorporate new FY24 actuals as they become available.
Waters summarized local revenue categories: sales and meals taxes, charges for services, EMS billing, interest earnings and permits. He said EMS billing is the largest driver in charges for services at roughly $3,000,000 a year. He also warned that interest earnings have recently exceeded budget and can swing materially depending on balances: "When you have $43,000,000 in the bank... a few percentage points on that can generate some real revenue," Waters said, but added that such gains are not reliable for budgeting.
On the headline revenue change, Waters reported a projected increase of just over $2,700,000 in local revenues but explained two important adjustments: meals tax receipts are routed to the county’s debt service fund and should be removed from general operating revenue, and the board previously reduced the assessment ratio on personal property, which cuts projected revenue. He said restoring the assessment ratio would add back about $1,800,000; removing meals tax reduces the net to about $700,000 in available growth. "If you take that out, you reduce the projected revenue by $1,800,000," Waters said.
Waters also noted the county is tracking state actions that affect personnel costs: he said a 1% raise is currently estimated at about $250,000 on the county side and that state guidance about raises will affect both the county and schools.
He closed by saying the county will continue reviewing FY24 actuals and year-to-date FY25 numbers to refine projections before final adoption.
Ending: With a firm April 1 budget adoption date, county staff and supervisors agreed to continue data updates and to incorporate department requests and advisory council input as the budget is developed.
