Alpine County adopts midyear budget adjustments, leaves contingency intact

The Alpine County Board of Supervisors voted Feb. 17 to adopt midyear adjustments to the county budget, approving a net increase of about $163,000 to the general fund and authorizing a $42,002.50 draw from contingency.

The county’s budget presenter told the board the packet shows "an additional 163,000 for the general fund" driven largely by insurance reimbursements and year-end cleanup items. During discussion, Director of Finance Klaus Leidenbauer said the county had appropriated "roughly 616,000" to contingency and that using $42,002.50 would leave about $573,789 in contingency. He also told the board preliminary reserves stood at $458,947 pending final audit work.

Board members questioned a $113,000 movement in current unsecured taxes; Leidenbauer said the figure reflected corrections and delinquent taxes connected to a "large property holder" and that the prior unsecured collections of roughly $90,000 represented prior-year collections. "It's a complicated item," Leidenbauer said, adding staff were "working through the problem as we speak."

A supervisor moved to adopt the midyear adjustments and another supervisor seconded the motion. The clerk called the roll: Supervisor Dobson, Supervisor Misack, Supervisor Woodrow and Chair Griffith voted aye; Supervisor Jim was recorded absent. The motion passed with four ayes and one absent.

The board packet and presenters framed the midyear package as "a fairly quiet midyear" with insurance reimbursements and some year-end cleanups underpinning most changes. Leidenbauer cautioned that a heavier winter could increase costs for equipment and snow removal and that the contingency and reserve balances give the county some buffer going into the remainder of the fiscal year.

Next steps: the board adopted the adjustments and did not request additional study; the county finance team will incorporate the changes into the ongoing fiscal-year reporting and the final audit process.