Daniel Prince
May 24, 2023
Committee votes down larger tax increase to start capital contingency fund
The Union County Council Committee on Administration and Finance met Tuesday night to make final changes to the budget and bring it into balance before next month’s public hearing and third reading. Coming into the meeting, the budget showed a projected shortfall of $409,529. The committee, chaired by Dr. John Flood, decided to close the deficit with a combination of cuts and a tax increase. The maximum allowable tax increase for this year is 8%, based on the consumer price index, which is the nation’s measure of inflation, or the rate of change in prices over time. That works out to a total of 10 mills that council could take. Dr. John Flood made a motion to take the full tax increase and use the remainder of it to begin a capital contingency fund to begin planning for future needs and future emergencies. He said the county historically has not done a good job of that or of maintaining its buildings, and having a contingency fund for capital needs and projects would help. The committee voted down the 10-mill increase, 3-2, with Danny Bright, David Sinclair, and Carolyn Rutherford voting no, and Dr. Flood and Annie Smith voting yes. David Sinclair then proposed a 6-mill increase, which would increase revenue enough to cover the budget shortfall. That motion passed 3-2, with Sinclair, Dr. Flood, and Annie Smith voting yes, and Danny Bright and Carolyn Rutherford voting no. The 6-mill increase will generate an estimated $387,394.43 in revenue. Combined with a $75,000 cut to the budgeted cost of fuel and a $15,000 cut to the circuit court miscellaneous line item, for which actual spending this year so far is less than half of what was budgeted, that will balance the budget with around $67,865 in surplus. The additional amount can be put into a contingency fund if the council wants.
One change Supervisor Phillip Russell said he made in this budget is to take as much as possible out of the nondepartmental budget and place expenses into the departments that are using it. He said that will show a truer figure of what it takes to run a particular department. He noted that the increase in the budgeted expenses for the year is due to proposed employee cost of living increases and step increases based on experience. He said the county has been a training ground for employees to then leave and go to other counties or jobs to work. He said by taking steps to take care of the employees, hopefully that will slow the revolving door and allow the county to retain more of its workers longer-term. He said the budget could be balanced without a tax increase or tapping into the general fund balance, but it would come at the expense of the workers, and he dd not support doing that. None of the council members expressed any support for that, either. Council member Danny Bright advocated for using the fund balance to cover the shortfall rather than doing a tax increase, expressing optimism that spending levels could be held down to the point where using the fund balance would not be necessary, but the rest of the council was not on board with that. Dr. Flood pointed out that the balance has already been tapped for roof repairs at the Chrysler Building and for covering a projected budget shortfall this year.
The proposed final budget will be posted online on the county’s website at gearupunionsc.com sometime during the first week of June in preparation for the June 20 public hearing and final reading of the budget ordinance.