BC 2014 04 15 Special Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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April 15, 2014 (Special Meeting) Page 1969 Projected for FY 2017, in that five -year plan, the .70 tax rate would produce an estimated $6,755,321 in additional revenues that would allow the County to fund capital projects - mostly schools that were put on hold for a five year period by the Board of Commissioners due to the poor economy and resulting lack of funds to support the capital projects. The remaining fund . balance gives the Board flexibility in determining which projects to fund, using any combination of cash, installment purchase, LOBS (Limited Obligation Bonds) and GO (General Obligation) Bonds as they see fit. County staff proposed GO Bonds based on direction given by the Board several years ago to have a publicly supported referendum before acquiring any new debt. Upon review of the several Five Year Plan options presented at the retreat, staff requested direction from the Board as to how they would like to move forward in preparation of the FY 2015 budget. Without additional direction or input from the Board, staff proceeded with the normal budget preparation process, with the understanding that an increase in the property tax rate is not an option for FY 2015. Fund Balance - Or the "Sum of excess revenues over expenditures for the entity - Restricted, Committed, and Assigned" The Board of Commissioners have a policy that directs all funds to the Capital Reserve Fund at year end, with the exception of the required 15% balance used to maintain appropriate cash flow for normal County operations, funds reserved (assigned) for potential legal issues and tax appeals, and emergency contingencies. The redirected funds are committed to current and future capital needs of the County and school systems. Due to the economic downturn, the Board waived the policy and did not transfer these funds between FY 2009 and FY 2013. In doing this, the County created a temporary cash reserve to protect itself from the uncertainty and volatility of the economy. As the economy began to improve, the capital needs of the County and growth needs of our schools also grew. Staff intended to recommend the Board move forward with transferring the accumulated funds of the temporary cash reserve into the Capital Reserve Fund. This could fund projects, including a new elementary school in the northwest area of the County and several school roofs that have leaked for quite a while and continue to get short term repairs, and finally the RCCC Cosmetology Center. Additional county projects have been pushed out waiting available funding as well. The Board of Commissioners did move the five year accumulation of funds that were in the general fund balance to the Capital Reserve Fund to fund the elementary school in the northwest part of Cabarrus and Mount Pleasant Middle School replacement project. Those projects are moving forward as the Board has directed. Annual Budget Process The annual budget process is taken very seriously by our staff. Beginning in November of each year, our department heads begin to review their capital needs in order to maintain and /or expand their facilities and services. These projected needs are submitted in December. Immediately following that process, our departments begin their process of evaluating their current programs and services to ensure they are meeting the intended goals and objectives of the BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS and their internal missions. Department heads then evaluate their programs from a financial perspective; determining whether they are operating as efficiently as possible while maintaining the expected demands of the public. Following the departmental review and preparation, the department budgets are submitted to our Finance Department for review. This is the first point in the process where individual department budgets are reviewed in a more comprehensive manner, taking into account the collective needs of the county, school systems and outside agencies that depend on us for funding. Department heads and other agencies are then required to present their proposed budgets to County Management. In most cases, any new staffing requests, new programs or additional services must be at least partially, but preferably totally, funded with new revenues.