Shrinking revenue and swelling expenses are making it difficult for Franklin County officials to come up with a balanced budget for next year.
Rickey Bowman, the county judge of Franklin County, said Quorum Court members were told at last week's regular meeting that general fund budget requests for next year exceeded anticipated revenue by more than $306,000.
Some cuts to spending requests may be necessary to balance the budget, Bowman said.
"It'll all work out," he said. "It'll be a little painful."
Quorum Court members were told budget requests for 2019 totaled nearly $4.3 million while anticipated revenue would total almost $4 million, Bowman said.
The general fund covers most of the county's expenses, such as operation of county offices and most employees' pay.
Forces affecting county income were reductions in state turnback money and a decrease in sales tax money generated in the county, Franklin County Treasurer Shelly Wilson said. Other county offices, such as the court system, also have seen a reduction in revenue.
Health insurance costs are going up, too, but Bowman said he was reluctant to make changes. The county pays for all of employees' insurance, he said. Pay is not great for employees, Bowman said, so he did not want to take away the insurance benefit.
The county also has suffered a high turnover rate in sheriff's office emergency dispatchers and jailers, which has resulted in the county having to pay about $80,000 over the past two years in personal time off and overtime compensation when jailers and dispatchers quit.
There are areas that could be cut to save money. The county Office of Emergency Management coordinator has a full-time employee position that could be eliminated, Bowman said.
Bowman also said Franklin County pays the cost of opening and closing graves, one of a few counties in the state to offer the service. He said he did not want to see an end to the service, which costs the county about $48,000 a year, but added that it could be cut in half.
He said there is enough money in the 2018 budget to cover county expenses until the end of the year. The money that is left to be carried over to 2019 will be about $300,000, which is less than the $700,000 the county was able to carry over from last year into 2018.
The county's budget committee, composed of four Quorum Court members, is scheduled to meet again Nov. 28 to do more work on the proposed budget, Bowman said. The Quorum Court is expected to vote on the budget at its next regular meeting Dec. 13.
State Desk on 11/20/2018