Accountant Rodney Burns handed Allen County commissioners Tuesday morning a “worst case scenario” budget for 2011.
The budget was for net expenditures of $13 million supported by a property tax levy of 79.398 mills, 15.885 mills more than was required for this year’s budget.
A levy of one mill raises $1 for each $1,000 of assessed valuation. A house with a market value of $100,000 is assessed at $11,500, meaning a levy of one mill raises $11.50 in tax money.
“It does make us face reality,” said Commission Chairman Gary McIntosh of the heightened levy.
More than likely, though, proposed expenses — and the necessary taxes to support them — will be cut.
Commissioners said that’s what usually occurs: The budget starts out heavy with requests from department heads and others and is surgically reduced by commissioners.
To begin the process, commissioners voted not to provide Iola with an $80,000 ambulance subsidy that has been in place since Iola started its own service in December 2008. That decision will reduce the county’s proposed levy by nine-tenths of a mill. The draft budget asks for 7.075 mills for the county ambulance, raising $645,000.
General fund expenditures, which provide money for courthouse operations, sheriff and jail departments, were pegged at $5.09 million, up from this year’s $4.654 million. If unchanged, it would push the general fund levy up by 9.203 mills to 40.698.
Expenditures for the road and bridge fund were put at $2.34 million, just $9,000 more than this year, while special bridge fund expenditures were $603,000 — $6,000 less than this year.
THE BUDGET and its levy were figured on a valuation of $91,176,288; $136,000 more than 2009 and about $2 million more than commissioners had expected. The figure includes all personal property valuation.
Commissioners expect to settle on a final budget by Aug. 3 and will have a public hearing on Aug. 17.
IOLA COMMISSIONER Bill Shirley told the county “we want to include you guys” in setting up a task force to try to attract an industry to fill the void created by the closing of Haldex Brake, announced on Friday and to occur before the end of the year.
“We want to make sure we’re all together on this,” Shirley added, and gave commissioners a copy of state law to do with closings that affect 100 or more employees.
Iola Mayor Bill Maness, a Haldex employee, said at a city meeting Monday afternoon that 155 people would lose their jobs. Many employees had worked at Haldex 20 or more years, Shirley said.
“We’ll do whatever we can to help,” said County Commissioner Rob Francis.
