Henry County budgeters finish wrap-up, flag $965,000 jail fund overage

Henry County officials met for a budget wrap-up session to review the final numbers and discuss remaining concerns, including a nearly $965,000 overage in the jail local income tax (LIT) fund.

County leaders said the county’s overall budget picture is sound after revised estimates from the Department of Local Government Finance (DLGF) and internal adjustments. The meeting focused on reconciling earlier conservative estimates, the large jail LIT variance and protecting services such as emergency medical services and the health department.

Officials said county receipts had been conservatively estimated earlier in the process and that updated DLGF numbers put the county closer to balance. “We’re going to be pretty close to balanced,” one county official said, noting that some funds historically grow after initial estimates. The official added that much of the overage Bobby referenced is in the jail LIT and described that fund as holding “about $3,000,000 in reserves” under prior estimates.

Commissioners and staff said the $965,000 overbudget in the jail LIT was intentional to respond to anticipated future needs in that fund and to shift some resources to the highway department and other priorities this year. One commissioner said the shift included putting nearly $500,000 back into the highway department budget to address bridge work and related needs. Several members said they were uncomfortable with the size of the overage but accepted it given the county’s large general fund reserves.

County officials described the general fund as healthy, with multiple speakers noting a multi-year push to build reserves. One participant said the county reached a roughly 60% general fund balance last year and that the county’s advisors recommend carrying six months of reserves.

Officials said they had set aside money to maintain EMS coverage through an agreement with the city of Newcastle and had budgeted to preserve positions at the Henry County Health Department after state funding cuts. The health department director thanked commissioners and staff and said the department’s retention of positions made it unnecessary to cut hours.

Staff also confirmed that employee raises taken this cycle moved employee pay toward the current average wage; one staff member said the raises brought “every employee for next year's salary to the average wage of this year.”

Discussion included a review of other funds — the highway fund and various departmental “lits” — and staff reported those funds were expected to carry over or be balanced by year-end. Department leaders present thanked staff for the work on the budget.

The session closed with a short procedural motion to adjourn.