Morgan County to conduct 2023 budget workshops
Starting Monday, Aug. 15, members of the Morgan County Council will begin their quest to build a budget for the county for 2023.
Council members will meet with elected officials and department heads to discuss their requests for 2023.
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Then on Monday, Aug. 22, council members will begin having workshops to discuss those requests. At this time, the workshops are scheduled for the Aug. 22, 23 and 25.
Morgan County Auditor Dan Bastin has compiled a preliminary list of financial requests from the department heads and officials, which also contains the reasons for budget requests for next year.
Bastin has a list of 45 funds that provide the money to run the county government.
Based on those preliminary budget requests, six of those funds will have a negative balance by the end of 2023.
Budget process
Over the years, due to legislative decisions, the budget process has become complicated.
Government gets much of its funding from two main sources, property taxes and income taxes. Government also receives money from fees and services.
Due to legislative action in recent years,Morgan County officials decided to base most of the county's operating funds on income taxes.
Those officials decided to have a low property tax rate.
The theory behind their decision was people who worked would pay taxes based on their income.
Those who were out of work would not be required to pay as much in taxes.
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At the time a large part of the residential property was used for rentals.
It was thought that by keeping property tax rates low, it would help keep rents low and it could promote private ownership of homes.
Morgan County has had one of the highest income tax rates in the state while it has had one of the lowest property tax rates.
The state will provide estimates of revenue the county will receive during the year. They do that by a series of formulas that estimate income and property values.
The state also has limits on how much a tax rate can increase in a year.
After doing their calculations, the state then gives the county auditors an estimate for the upcoming year.
The auditor collects budget requests from the different departments and agencies in county government.
The auditor then puts all the numbers together to give council members an idea of what they will have to spend in the next year.
Request numbers
As of the writing of this story, the financial requests for all agencies and departments is about $84.6 million.
That compares with the 2022 total budget for ALL agencies and departments of around $65.4.
A quick review of the 2023 budget shows that of the roughly $19.2 million in new spending requests, $13.7 million is money from the American Rescue Plan Act.
About $2 million is from the Community Crossing Grant Fund and another $2 million is for the bond fund which will help pay for major construction projects.
A review of the proposed budget shows that pay increases for employees is the number one request. Some departments have asked for as much as a 20 percent increase in pay to offset the increase in the cost of living.
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There are requests for increases in deputies for the sheriff and correction officers for the jail.
There are also increases in the budgets for vehicles, gas and vehicle services.
In other line items, there are increases due to inflation making those items more expensive.
General Fund
Most of the county departments and agencies receive funding from the County's General Fund. For 2023, the total General Fund request of more than $29.6 million. That compares with an approved General Fund budget for 2022 of more than $26.1 million.
The commissioner's have requested around $9.25 million for next year which compares to around $8.2 million this year.
The county jail is requesting $5.8 million for 2023 compared with $4.8 million. In the jail request there is money requested for major repair work in the jail and for another maintenance worker to help with those repairs.
The sheriff is requesting around $5.16 million which compares to $4.1 million this year.
The county's ambulance service is asking for around $5.43 million in 2023. That compares with the $4.46 million the department received in 2022.
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At this time, the state has limited increases in the budget to 5%.
The council will hold a public hearing on the budget on Sept. 12 at 5 p.m. at the county administration building.
Council members is expected to approve the budget at the Oct. 3 meeting.
This article originally appeared on The Reporter Times: Morgan County 2023 budget. Council to discuss next year's budget
