'Somewhat tenuous': Boone County Board sets vote on $23.7M budget - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

By Adam Poulisse
Staff writer

Posted Oct. 29, 2015 at 10:49 PM

BELVIDERE — The Boone County Board will vote Nov. 18 on a proposed $23.7 million 2016 budget, a 2.2 percent decrease from this year's $25.9 million budget.

The general fund — which covers salaries, public safety and other expenses — is projected to be $16.2 million, compared with $14.9 million this year and $15.3 million in 2014. The overall budget for almost 50 funds includes highway, bridge and animal services.

"We project (general fund) revenues to be $16.2 (million) and the spending to be about the same," Boone County Administrator Ken Terrinoni said at a special budget meeting Thursday.

To balance the budget, the board reduced various line items, tapped into reserves and implemented a new fee to pay for a Court Appointed Special Advocate.

On Oct. 21, the board voted 9-3 to use public safety sales tax revenue to balance the budget, a measure that produced heated debate among residents and some board members. The measure OK'd using $900,000, but the board reduced that to $800,000.

"A lot of factors pulled together to balance the budget," Terrinoni said.

Other major funds include the $4.8 million bridge fund. Repairing the bridge on Pleasant Street near the Green Giant plant will cost about $3 million, board Chairman Bob Walberg said.

"The state of Boone County is somewhat tenuous," he said. "We've made assumptions that our state revenues will come through and be paid when there is a budget. If there's cut in the state, some of those may not come in, so we're very concerned. Our revenue and expenses are balanced right now, but that (could) throw us out of balance. We would try to accommodate that with reduced spending where we could."

Terrinoni said the county is "very financially stressed. Our traditional financial revenues that really power a local government are not doing well," adding that the recession in 2009 "cut our legs off."

Even the projected $1.5 million in sales tax revenue is not a positive sign, Terrinoni said, because it has been flat for years.

"To be a million-and-a-half and not recovering (economically) ... it's highly stressed at this time. Our traditional financial revenues that really power a local government are not doing well."

Adam Poulisse: 815-987-1344; apoulisse@rrstar.com; @adampoulisse

'Somewhat tenuous': Boone County Board sets vote on $23.7M budget - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL