Meriwether County staff set Sept. 16 budget deadline, outline $3.3M fund-balance plan

County finance staff presented an initial budget plan at the Aug. 10 work session that depends on a roughly $3.3 million transfer from fund balance to balance the coming fiscal year. The transfer, staff said, includes $2.0–2.3 million in LRA/LMC funds that are earmarked and must be spent in the upcoming year to preserve eligibility for future allocations.

"You'll see a transfer in from fund balance is gonna be about 3,300,000," the county administrator said, noting that roughly $2,000,000 of that money is LRA money that has to be spent. Staff added the use of earmarked dollars may make the budget show a temporary deficit even as the county retains reserves and remains operational.

The administrator urged the board to meet a tight timetable for budget approval. "September 16 is my drop dead date," the administrator said, asking commissioners to provide feedback well before the public-advertisement deadline so the document can be published and a public hearing held on Sept. 29.

The presentation also confirmed a 3% across-the-board merit increase was included as a placeholder in the draft budget; staff told commissioners further market-adjustment requests from departments will be considered but warned those adjustments interact with merit calculations and must be analyzed before adoption. The administrator said staff will run detailed numbers and schedule follow-up budget meetings with commissioners over the next five weeks.