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County financial consultant says about $2 million in one‑time funds are available for projects
Summary
Steven Blake told the Ashland County Finance & Economic Development Committee that the county ended 2024 with increased unassigned fund balance and several one‑time and restricted funds that could be used for nonrecurring projects, including contingency and LATCF dollars.
Steven Blake, the county's contracted financial consultant, told the Ashland County Finance & Economic Development Committee that Ashland County ended 2024 in a stronger cash position than in recent years and that the audit draft identifies several one‑time and restricted balances that could be used for capital projects.
Blake said the general fund showed a materially higher unassigned balance at year‑end — roughly $2.5 million — up from about $139,000 the year before, and attributed most of the change to a state settlement related to the Sanborn properties that brought about $1.8 million into county coffers. He pointed out a contingency balance of about $840,000 that “is available if the county wish to use some or part of that to help with some of these projects.”
Blake also called out about $1.0 million in LATCF funds (referred to in the meeting as LATCF/LACTF), which he said the committee could use “for any governmental purpose” consistent with program rules. He noted additional restricted funds that may be appropriate for jail‑related work, including inmate wellness and jail assessment accounts, which could be applied only to jail expenses.
Asked directly whether that meant “basically $2,000,000 available to do a project if we wanted to not take out debt,” Blake answered yes, adding a caution: the committee should avoid committing those one‑time balances to ongoing operating costs.
Blake also reviewed the county's legacy health‑plan run‑out liability and said May activity suggested the county may stay under the 2024 liability estimate by roughly $97,000, improving the outlook for that fund.
Committee members asked whether LATCF funding is ongoing; Blake said the current LATCF distribution is tied to ARPA and is not automatically recurring unless the federal program is extended or otherwise replaced. The financial consultant recommended quarterly finance updates for the committee.
The presentation did not include a formal committee vote; Blake said Kerber (the county's auditors) is expected to present the final audit later and that the figures come from the draft audit materials the administration received.
