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County won't have to rely on reserves as anticipated
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Published: November 7, 2009
During a special meeting Friday morning, Iredell County commissioners heard mostly good news regarding the state of the county's coffers.
Finance Director Susan Blumenstein said the county is in slightly better fiscal shape than she and other county leaders forecasted earlier in the year.
Department heads, she said, deserve most of the credit for the county having to rely less heavily on reserve funds to balance the budget work. At the county's February business retreat, Blumenstein and County Manager Joel Mashburn said projected revenue shortfalls would force the county to use $2 million from the fund balance to avoid a deficit.
Commissioners reluctantly voted to approve the spending plan.
But on Friday, Blumenstein said only about $536,000 would have to be taken from fund balance.
Blumenstein said belt-tightening made a significant difference.
"The department heads took this seriously," she said. "They said, 'Just because the money is there, it doesn't mean we have to spend it.' "
Commissioners applauded the work done by county leaders to squeeze the most bang for their buck.
"Hats off to them," said Commissioner Ken Robertson.
But Mashburn said some of the cuts the county made this year are unsustainable.
"There were some things we were able to delay that we will not be able to continue to delay," he said. "This will eventually create pent-up demands."
Mashburn mentioned, for example, that during the current fiscal year: County employees did not receive a pay raise; there were no new vehicles purchased — a matter that is of particular importance to the sheriff's office; and there were no new hires.
Commissioner Scott Keadle, who was probably the most outspoken board member in opposition to the use of the reserve funds, said this matter would have to be studied.
"If we are anticipating that this is going to break," Keadle said, "we are going to need to know how to fix it."
Blumenstein said other factors concerning the increase in funds involved property tax collections. She said so far 22.6 percent of the taxes have been collected in this fiscal year, which compares to 19.4 percent last year.
"The tax collecting office has been hitting them hard," Blumenstein said. "And people have it on their minds that, 'If I don't pay, he's coming after me.' "
Also at Friday's meeting, the commissioners:
-Heard a report from Planning Director Ron Smith on the creation of a unified development ordinance for the county.
Commissioners said they liked the idea as long as it was used as a means to expedite and not deviate from previous ordinances and directives.
-Approved a loan bid from RBC Centura bank for construction work at Mitchell Community College and Union Grove Elementary School.
-Voted for the county to accept the donation of Scotts Community Recreation Center.
County Parks and Recreation Director Robert Woody said the center has been overseen by a community board of directors since the late 1960s.
He said board has decided to relinquish control of the center to the county in hopes that it will be better maintained.
The main building at the center, which was once a school for African-American children, has been blighted by gang-related graffiti.
Woody said his department can now go to work on trying to secure North Carolina Parks and Recreation Trust Fund grants, which would be used to help spruce up the center and surrounding park.
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