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Marion County approves amended transfer to shore up general fund amid sales-tax dip
Summary
Marion County justices approved an amended transfer of local funds into the county general fund after hearing a quarterly report showing fund balances around $9 million last year and a roughly 3% drop in sales-tax revenue.
Marion County justices approved an amended transfer of local funds to the county general fund on April 14 after a quarterly report showed a modest decline in sales-tax receipts.
Trish presented the quarterly report, saying the county’s total balance across funds was a little over $9,000,000 last year and that overall sales-tax revenue was down about 3% compared with the prior year. Trish also noted residual bond receipts—one installment of $364,000 and a final payment of $94,000—that produced roughly $458,000 in additional revenue tied to a now-paid jail bond.
During new business, the court introduced Order No. 2615 to transfer funds from 1007 (local private funds) to 1500 (county general). A justice pointed out that the figure printed in the agenda differed from the amount handed out at the meeting (about a $7,000 increase) and moved to amend the agenda to the higher, distributed figure. The court adopted the amendment and then approved the transfer by voice vote.
Justices and staff also discussed the county general fund’s downward trend. One attendee said the County General fund was at its lowest level in a year—averaging about $208,000 on the reports—and expressed concern about a deficit when comparing receipts to disbursements. Trish said staff would step up monitoring and prepare a report for the budget committee.
The court noted the jail bond was paid off, ending the half-cent sales tax that had funded it. Officials said federal tornado funds would not appear on future routine reports and clarified that those funds are held in a special fund rather than in county general.
The court did not set a specific new revenue measure; instead, members directed staff to monitor finances more closely and to bring more frequent budget reviews back to the committee.
The court’s action on Order No. 2615 was procedural and intended to move funds to cover county needs; the amended dollar figure and the transfer were adopted by voice vote.
