| 114th Year, 43rd Issue | Thursday, June 5, 2003 | Sparta, North Carolina |
The Alleghany County Board of Commissioners received a proposed fiscal year 2003-2004 budget totaling $10,177,027 Monday night from County Manager Don Adams.
The budget proposal reflects a decrease in spending from the 2002-2003 budget, which was $10,538,052, of about 3.4 percent ($361,025). Requests for this year totaled $10,714,550.
The budget proposal is now in the hands of the commissioners and they have the authority to change any or all of the document (with the exception of items that require funding based on state and federal mandates).
Three areas of the budget that are not in the direct control of the commission make up the biggest part, 65 percent, of the budget, Adams said. Those areas include health and human services (24 percent of budget), public safety (21 percent) and education (20 percent). Other major budget categories include general government (17 percent), debt service (8 percent) and insurance (7 percent).
Adams noted in his budget talk with the commission that this is a tight budget year for the county.
In the budget, he proposes allocating $253,449 in fund balance to
offset a budget shortfall. That allocation represents about 2 percent
of the county's total revenue picture. The other alternatives to
allocating fund balance include cutting funding to agencies,
departments and special interests or instituting a tax increase. To
cover a shortfall of that amount, about a three-cent tax hike would
have been necessary. Each cent of taxes raises about $90,000 for the
county's coffers.
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