Upon Further Review – 2010 Budget
Well a month has gone by and not much clarity has been provided concerning the final 2010 budget. I received an email from Pat Tibbets on 9/16 which contained the same Aug 7th 1-page budget summary that was provided by the county finance director. Here is a summary of the differences between the July 15th budget and the August 7th budget:
A few obvious questions for our commissioners:
1. Where did the department called “Economic Development” come from and who is in charge of it? It was not listed on the July 15th budget and due to the final budget being 1-page, I’m at a loss to what this money is for.
2. The July 15th ”Non-Departmental” budget (pg 47) contained 33 separate expense lines. Unfortunately, I cannot tell where the $200k came out of on the Aug 7th budget due to it only being 1-page in length. How could the commissioners vote on the budget without knowing what specific non-departmental expense-line(s) the 200k came out of?
3. In regard to the Tax Assessor, I.T., Probate, D.A., and Magistrate departments, where did this money come out of? Again, on the July 15th budget, each department has its own page. On that page there are usually three budget-lines: Salaries and Fringe Benefits, Operating Expenses, and Capital Outlay. Without this detailed department page on the August 7th budget, it was impossible for our commissioners to know where the money came from for these cuts.
While I was pleased to see further cuts made between the July 15th and the August 7th budgets, I’m quite disappointed at the final product. It looks as if numbers were changed without the detailed work being done. The residents of Paulding County deserve a detailed budget - especially when their taxes are being increased.
I believe the $275,000 under Economic Development is the funding the County provides to the Industrial Building Authority. In the past the IBA has been funded at $300,000 a year/ $75,000 a quarter.
I see the IBA on the July 15th version (http://pauldingpundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/JULY-15-BUDGET-VERSION.PDF) listed as $300,000. The problem is that the August 7th budget doesn’t give you the individual breakdowns so it is impossible to know if the IBF is still listed there under NON-DEPARTMENAL. The finance director says she doesn’t have to supply the long version of the budget.