County Budget: to become informed citizens

Budget Not Expected to Be Much Different Than Fiscal Year 2018-2019

Botetourt County’s administrators and the budget committee from the Board of Supervisors are presently looking at the county’s budget for fiscal year 2019-2020.

So far, the supervisors or other public officials have made no mention of a tax increase. In all likelihood, the budget will remain flat and similar to last year’s $96.9 million budget, although the county does need to spend money on its buildings, which are in need of repair and remediation due to mold and lack of upkeep during the recession. The county is also building a school in Blue Ridge, which may impact the school budget.

Revenue

The majority of the county’s budget comes from local revenue such as the real estate tax, which last year brought in $25.8 million, and personal property tax, which last year brought in $6.5 million. However, the county also receives funding from the state and federal governments. These amounts have decreased in the last 15 years, which means that the local share of expenses for necessary items such as schools has increased.

Local revenue comes from more than 90 different sources. Many of these items folks seldom think about, but include things like machinery and tool taxes on businesses, which last year contributed $3.8 million to the county’s $63.2 million general fund revenue balance (which does not include school funding from the state and other sources). The county also received $2.9 million from local sales taxes, $1.4 million from the meals tax, and $400,000 in interest in money the county has in deposit accounts.

Additionally, the county received $1.2 million from its emergency services “cost recovery” program, which is a fee paid by insurance companies when residents or others use the county’s emergency services, such as the rescue squad. The county also received $297,000 from cell site rental, $175,000 from charges at the landfill, and $250,000 for building permit fees. Smaller sums come from the various other fees, such as library fees and fines, recreation fees, and animal protection fees. The Botetourt Sports Complex brought in $54,000.

The remainder of last year’s budget revenue consisted of state funding of $10.8 million and federal funding at just over $1 million. These numbers do not include the school component. The majority of the state’s funding is $3.4 million for the Personal Property Tax Refund, which began under Governor Jim Gilmore in 1998. The county also receives $3.4 million from the state for the Sheriff’s Department. The remaining revenue is for the Commonwealth’s Attorney, the Commissioner of the Revenue, Treasurer, Voter Registrar and Electoral Board, Comprehensive Services, library aid, and other small items. The federal money mostly consists of public assistance and welfare administration.

Expenditures

So where does all of this money go? The schools set their own budget and ask for a local share to offset whatever the state does not send to them. Last year the schools received about 35 percent of the county’s local budget, or about 60 percent of the entire budget when state funding is allocated back to the schools.

The county’s list of expenditures for last year, available on the internet at botetourtva.gov, is about 88 pages long, not including the school budget.

Public safety is by far the county’s largest expense after schools. Last year the county spent $16.7 million on items such as the sheriff’s office, animal control, and fire and rescue services. The county spent $3.9 million on administration, a category that includes the supervisors’, county administrator, deputy county administrators, computer purchases, the voter registrar, commissioner of revenue, treasurer, and other administrative services.

The county last year spent $3.1 million on citizens’ health and welfare services, which includes items such as the local health department, children’s health services, and social services, along with numerous other smaller sums for local health services.

The county last year spent $2.9 million on parks, recreation, and cultural activities, mostly for recreation facilities and the sports complex.

The county last year spent $1.2 million on community development, which included items such as Economic Development, Cooperative Extension, and the Roanoke Regional Partnership.

As officials work on the current budget, The Botetourt Bee will alert readers to potential changes that could impact taxes. The fiscal year 2019-2020 budget is not expected to be made public until April at the earliest. However, this reflection on last year’s budget should give readers a good idea of what to expect when the new numbers are announced.

Monthly column by Anita Firebaugh, special to the Botetourt Bee