Commissioners set budget timeline, emphasize mandated services and county funding priorities

Kevin Berger, chairman of the Rockingham County Board of Commissioners, said the board recessed the Jan. 21 meeting until February at 4:30 p.m. to begin budget deliberations and said the board will set priorities for county administration to use in preparing the manager’s proposed budget. "As we concluded on January, we recessed the meeting till February at 04:30, to begin our budget deliberations," Berger said.

Commissioner Charlie Hall described the county’s fiscal responsibilities and noted that many departments are mandated by the state. "Many of these departments though are mandated by the state. So it's not like we have the option of providing these services or not," Hall said. Berger and Hall identified typical county-funded services including libraries, board of elections, emergency medical services and the sheriff’s department; they also said county funding supports school capital repairs, grounds maintenance and college capital repairs and utilities, while operational funding for K-12 schools was not described as a county responsibility in the transcript.

Berger gave a schedule for the budget process: the county’s fiscal year runs from July 1 to June 30; the board expects a manager’s proposed budget a few weeks before the target adoption date, and aims to adopt a budget no later than the first or second meeting in June. Berger said the board will spend February through June developing the budget parameters.

The transcript did not include specific dollar figures for the upcoming budget, nor any motions, vote tallies or specific funding amounts; the recap emphasized the board’s aim to be consistent with the UDO and land-use planning documents when applicable and invited the public to attend future meetings or view updates on the county website.