No tax increase proposed in next year's county budget

By Lisa Majors-Duff

County Manager Ken Westmoreland presented commissioners with the proposed $36 million 2002-03 fiscal year budget during their meeting May 16. He and finance officer Darlene Fox were able to balance the budget without an addition to the 48 cent per $100 valuation, Westmoreland said.

"This budget will be a chance for Jackson County to move forward while other counties are only treading water or moving backwards," Westmoreland said.

"I think overall it's a good budget document," said Fox. "We've been able to accomplish a lot in trying economic times."

Aware of problems at the state level and in surrounding counties, Westmoreland said he went into the budget process, his first in Jackson County, "expecting the very worst. But I was pleasantly surprised at the outcome."

The county manager gave credit for making his job easier to department heads who did a good job preparing their budget requests. "I didn't have anything coming in that was outrageous," he said of this season's budget requests. In fact, he said, only about $1.5 million needed to be pared down from this year's requests.

Bad news on the state level as far as reimbursements were concerned were handled this year as they were last, he said. Some $286,000 is being projected to be withheld by the governor from Jackson County in an effort to repair the state budget. Instead of counting on those funds for operating needs, the money has been included in a capital reserve fund, where it could be retrieved if it is released, he said.

"If we don't get (the reimbursements), it won't hurt county operations," Fox said.

Both Fox and Westmoreland agreed that the state's plans to do away with reimbursements in favor of a local 1/2 cent sales tax in 2003 will be better for Jackson County. Since reimbursements amount to about $622,000 annually and the sales tax is estimated to generate $1.5 million, Jackson County should experience a net gain of $927,880 as late as July 1, 2003, Fox said.

"Jackson County has historically done well with sales tax," Westmoreland said. "It has proven to be very stable."

Sales tax revenues experienced only a slight dip in the quarter following the Sept. 11 attack, he said, while every quarter since then has grown.

"Jackson County has proven to be more fortunate than either Haywood or Macon counties in that regard," Westmoreland said.

Other factors that improved the budget outlook included several things that did not happen, like projected jumps in the the county's contributions to both Medicaid and its own employee group health benefits. While early projections called for the county to contribute about $500,000 to Medicaid next year, only $200,000 was required, said Westmoreland. The same held true for health benefits, which were expected to increase by about 35 percent but instead came in at about 13 percent.

Yet another significant factor in the budget outlook is the level of growth experienced this year. Some $160 million in new construction will result in a revenue increase of just over $732,000, Fox said.

"This represents the biggest increase we've experienced outside a revaluation year," she said.

As for what county residents can expect from next year's budget, Westmoreland said they can look for a continuation and improvement of services. One of the biggest of these will be a new Department of Social Service facility. Thirteen architectural firms have expressed interest in working on this project, which will include a detailed needs assessment and construction of a building to meet county needs for at least the next 30 years. The proposed budget includes $1.25 million for this project, the county manager said.

For those county residents who have been awaiting access to county records via the Internet, that wait may be nearing its end, said Westmoreland. Tax records, building permits and other documents should be available in the coming year, he said.

In an effort to respond to citizens' requests during Smart Growth meetings for improvements in law enforcement and fire and rescue services, additional funds have been allocated to these departments. Also, equipment upgrades have been factored in, including three repeaters to cover radio "dead spots" in Whittier, Canada and Cashiers.

"It's really frightening to know we are sending law enforcement into places were they have no form of communication," Westmoreland said.

Of course, the law enforcement center addition to the Justice Center, at $6 million, is one of the largest expenditures being made to assist officers, Westmoreland said. That facility is expected to open late this summer, he said. When it does, officers will have access to the FBI's fingerprinting system, thanks to a $125,000 state grant.

New county employee positions are also proposed in next year's budget. In addition to four detention officers and a secretary requested for jail operations, a building inspector and information technology positions are expected. A county planner position is also proposed.

"My feeling is that the way this county is changing so rapidly, we need a professional planner," Westmoreland said. "This last year was an obvious example. We spent a lot of time putting out brush fires instead of getting in front of situations."

A planning position proposed by then-county Manager Jay Denton was eliminated from last year's budget.

Current county employees can expect to see some changes in their pay checks should next year's budget be approved as presented, the manager said. In lieu of across-the-board cost of living adjustments, step/grade adjustments are being proposed, which should amount to about a 2 percent increase in most salaries.

Over the next couple of years, such adjustments should fix the problem that currently exists whereby new hires are earning roughly the same amount of money as those who have been employed for several years, said Westmoreland said, resulting in a "real ego deflator" for more experienced employees.

In addition, a longevity pay plan is proposed that would "reward dedicated service" by providing a $50-a-year "bonus" for employees. "That means that an employee who has been here for one year would get $50, while an employee who has been here for 10 years would get $500," he said.

Employees would then have three options for receiving the money - a cash payment on their anniversary date; a retirement contribution; or apply it to their dependent health care coverage costs.

While only 7 percent of the public school system's 22 percent requested increase for operations is proposed to be funded next year, Westmoreland said the county will continue to concentrate its spending efforts in the areas of facility improvements, transportation needs and technology at local schools.

"I'd call 7 percent the break-even point," Westmoreland said. "While the state is pushing for counties to do more to fund operations, because of the maintenance of effort requirement, even if you wanted to do more (some years) you couldn't."

Maintenance of effort requires counties to fund local school systems at or above previous year levels. Instead of proposing a greater increase in operation, $698,000 is proposed for school capital outlay with additional funds going toward the facade improvement plan at Smoky Mountain High.

"I can't think of a thing that was discussed at the budget planning retreat that was left out," Westmoreland said. "There should not be a lot of major changes."

A public hearing on the document, which can be viewed in the manager's office and at the county's two public libraries, has been scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday, June 6, in the Justice Center's Courtroom One. Budget workshops with commissioners will be scheduled following the public hearing.

Back to Archive: 05/23/02.