“We’ve had pretty sharp pencils the last several years,” said Rob Francis, as he and other Allen County commissioners, Dick Works and Gary McIntosh, completed their first look at next year’s budget.
Rodney Burns, Chanute accountant who annually constructs the county’s budget, handed the newest version to commissioners Tuesday morning. It called for a record mill levy.
Taking proposals from department heads and others who depend on the budget for funding, Burns offered a plan to spend $12.75 million — nearly $800,000 more than this year’s estimate — that would require an ad valorem tax levy of 73.518 mills. This year’s levy, the highest to date, is 67.635 mills.
“We have some homework to do,” said Works, commission chairman, an exercise they also asked Burns to employ in respect to two funds in particular, those for ambulance and dispatch services.
The proposed ambulance levy was 2.169 mills more than last year’s, rising to 5.318 mills, with expenditures pegged at $1.6 million, nearly $300,000 more than this year.
Dispatch is part of the general fund. Its funding was put at $609,273, nearly $60,000 more than this year.
General fund expenditures actually were less than this year’s estimate — $5.169 million compared to $5.224 million — but the general fund tax levy of 39.583 mills was higher by 2.362 mills.
Public Works Department levies also were higher. Road and bridge expenditures were up $138,000, to $2.234 million, with the levy increasing by .819 mills to 16.97. Special bridge fund expenditures stayed the same at just under $421,000, but required an additional levy of .748 to mills to 2.705. Tax dollars are about half of bridge expenditures.
On a cursory note, Works asked if department heads included pay increases in their proposed budgets. County Clerk Sherrie Riebel said they did.
Works didn’t make any further comment, although the query could be interpreted as not boding well for pay increases in 2013.
Just how much commissioners and Burns will trim the budget — he’s due back at the July 31 meeting — won’t be known until later, but it is likely commissioners will attempt to cut the budget to leave the finished product with numbers not significantly higher than this year’s totals.
A LOOK back shows that property tax levies have increased often in recent years — while assessed valuations also have climbed.
For a reference, the levy in 1992 was 33.624 mills with assessed valuation of $53.77 million for a budget of $7 million. In 2002, the levy was 45.5 mills, valuation $70.9 million and budget $9.4 million.
Just a year later, in 2003, the levy broke over 50 mills to 51.622 mills with valuation of $71.4 million and a budget of $8.64 million. In 2009, the first levy of more then 60 mills was approved, at 64.513. That year assessed valuation was $91 million with a budget of $12.8 million
