County finance staff told the Board of County Commissioners at a March 8 work session in the Chesapeake Building that the draft FY2011 budget currently shows $188,627,980 in revenue and an unbalanced gap of roughly $2,400,000.

Miss Kramer, a finance staff presenter, summarized the revenue outlook and reserves, saying, “We are, at this point in time, we have a shortfall, an unbalanced budget, a shortfall of $2,400,000.” She told commissioners the draft includes using $3,500,000 of fund balance as revenue replacement and that staff proposes a $1,000,000 revenue stabilization reserve and a $500,000 emergency appropriations reserve.

Why it matters: the draft assumes a property tax environment shaped by the state’s constant‑yield calculation. Kramer said the county’s current property tax rate is 0.857 and the constant‑yield tax rate calculated by the state would be 0.8192, which staff estimates would cause a revenue loss of about $4,070,741 and, after secondary effects, closer to $4.3 million. Income tax receipts are also down: staff’s working estimate for FY2011 income tax revenue is $60,000,000, a decline from prior expectations.

Staff presented the math behind the totals and noted several shifting elements that widen the budget gap: lower investment income, reduced state grant funding (which depresses both revenues and the associated expenditures), and large variability in highway‑user distributions from the state. Kramer also noted an outstanding request from the Office of the Sheriff: $1,154,921 in additions above the target that were not included in the base subtotal on the budget summary and that commissioners should consider when finalizing the recommended budget.

Discussion and next steps: commissioners and staff discussed options to close the gap. Staff pointed to the packet of department submissions showing potential 7% reductions, amounting to roughly $5.1 million in candidate cuts across departments and elected offices; many of those savings would require reductions in filled positions. Commissioners directed staff to return with prioritized scenarios and additional detail before the next work session. Several commissioners said they wanted more time to review the submissions; others expressed support for holding the sheriff’s above‑target request for further review while staff refines options.

No formal decisions were adopted at the session. Staff laid out a timetable: more focused work sessions are scheduled for March 15 and March 22, after which the board will move toward adopting a recommended budget for public hearing. Kramer and other staff committed to return with refined revenue scenarios, updated pension and health‑insurance estimates when they are available, and a prioritized list of possible reductions and fee changes for commissioner consideration.