Chief Budget Officer presents ‘State of the County’

Daviess County Clerk Ronetta Burton presented the Daviess County 2020 Budget Message at the annual budget hearing held Jan. 29.
The clerk’s message serves as a “snapshot” of where Daviess County stands as the new year begins. The “State of the County” message is required by The County Budget Law (RSMo. 50.525 to 50.745). It reads as follows:
“As the 2020 budget year begins Daviess County finds itself in a situation where rising costs in insurance, goods, and labor are causing expenditures to outpace revenues. The commission has advised me they will be seeking to restore $0.15 of our rolled-back levy in 2020 for a total levy of $0.26 per $100 of valuation. The county has a maximum voted levy of $0.40. This will allow Daviess County to remain in a stable financial condition. In 2020 the county will begin with a total fund balance of $3,396,886.55, have estimated total revenues of $4,107,889.41, and estimated total expenditures of $3,744,271.13. These numbers represent a balanced budget for General Revenue with an estimated budget surplus for 2020 of $120,150.25. The Law Enforcement Sales Tax Fund, Capital Improvements Fund, and Prosecuting Attorney Admin Handling Fund, along with 14 other segregated funds, have budgeted use of $189,014.88 of their individual carryover funds to supplement the 2020 budget. All revenues and expenditures are in line with previous budgets.
“Daviess County’s assessed valuations grew 2% in 2019 with a real estate valuation of $104,712,995 and a personal property valuation of $35,898,525. There was $1,989,364 in new real estate construction reported by the assessor. Tax levies for 2019 were as follows: General Revenue – $0.1193, Senior Services – $0.0498, and County Disabilities (SB 40) – $0.0922. Sales tax revenue in 2019 was down 2.2% and use tax revenue was down 2.4%.
“The commission will continue to repair and maintain our beautiful historic courthouse with plans in 2020 to seal the outside of the courthouse to stop water infiltration, repair and repaint the interior walls on the north side of the building, and to continue with plans to upgrade the heating and air conditioning beginning in the assessor’s office with plans (if initial installation is successful) to upgrade the other offices as finances allow. In 2019 several thousand dollars was invested in upgrades to the electrical system to better serve the Central Dispatch office.
In 2019 the county, and many of the other entities in the county, suffered substantial losses from spring and summer flooding. Many bridges and culverts were damaged, including the complete loss of a bridge on Jump Avenue in Jamesport Township. Ultimately, a Federal and State disaster declaration was approved, and the county is hopeful it will receive Federal and State funds in 2020 to reimburse some of the costs to repair/replace these structures.
“The Salary Commission met in 2019 and voted to have salaries remain at 115% of base, plus the 2016 COLA (and any COLA approved by the Commission for all employees in 2020 and 2021) for those elected to take office in 2021. The Salary Commission chose not to accept an automatic $2,000 increase voted by the legislature. The assessed valuation in 2017 raised Daviess County from one salary base bracket to the next higher bracket. This automatic increase in salaries was not implemented in 2018 or 2019, therefore the appropriate corrections for both years were made with the December 2019 payroll. Again this year the commission did not approve a Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA), but did give full-time hourly employees a $0.50 per hour increase in order to remain competitive in the market.
“Due to substantial increases again this year, the commission reluctantly made the decision to require employees to pay $31 each month of their health insurance cost. The county continued to offer three plans, with additional coverage for vision and dental plans available for employee purchase.
“As always, it is the main goal of the commission to monitor revenue and spending for all funds, and to be conscientious oversight for the taxpayers’ money. They also endeavor to repair, maintain and preserve the physical and historical integrity of the county’s buildings. This, along with the elected officials working together to provide necessary services with excellent customer service while working within their designated budgets, is what makes Daviess County a great place to live, work, and raise a family.”
As the chief budget officer for Daviess County, Clerk Ronetta Burton concludes the budget message with the following: “Daviess County remains in stable financial condition with General Revenue reserves for 2020.”