County budget shows recession still strong
By JEFF ENGELHARDT -
The budget being presented to the DeKalb County Board this week is roughly $11 million less than last year’s as officials try to navigate through a continuing recession.
The $79 million budget for next year comes at a cost to many county departments, but as proposed, residents should see no increase in property tax bills for county expenses.
The county has proposed using $900,000 in reserves, which would lower the balance of the reserve fund to $9.1 million by the end of fiscal year 2012. The reserve balance would be at 34 percent of expenses, which is just above the county’s outside auditor’s recommendation of 25-30 percent. Because of that, County Administrator Ray Bockman said the county would be able to use the reserves at a similar level in 2013 if needed, but would then have to make a decision.
The assessed value for the county is expected to decline by 5.7 percent and the value of an average $200,000 home is projected to plummet to $186,000…..
The MAP – sheriff’s officers union – has an arbitrated settlement that offers a 6.1 percent salary increase. The Sycamore Campus and Highway Department AFSCME Union will get 2 percent increases in January and July while the Health Department AFSCME Union will get a 3 percent increase in January and 2 percent increase in July. Non-union employees will get a 1.5 percent increase in January.
Click on the following for more details on this DeKalb Chronicle story:
http://www.daily-chronicle.com/2011/09/18/county-budget-shows-recession-still-strong/as47xp5/
No comments:
Post a Comment