Newport
As it stands now, the $31.6 million proposal increases the amount to be raised by taxes by less than 1 percent and would add about 2 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation on the county tax rates of the 15 communities in Sullivan County. That translates into a $3 increase in annual county taxes on a $150,000 property. The county tax rate represents less than 10 percent of the overall property tax in most communities.
Claremont’s county tax this year is 7 percent of the total rate.
The budget proposes using $2 million of the county’s undesignated fund balance and another $950,000 from a projected year-end surplus, Levine said.
Combined, the money will offset most of the tax increase.
The projected surplus comes from a $350,000 credit for workers’ compensation coverage because the county paid the annual cost in full last July 1, Levine said.
“Essentially we had a year of workers compensation we did not have to pay for because it had been paid in full already.”
The other portion of the surplus comes from $750,000 set aside in 2012 and 2013 to cover possible cost overruns in construction of a biomass plant at the county complex in Unity that began operation in December 2013. Only $100,000 of that was needed, Levine said, leaving $650,000.
Levine said that the bottom line of the budget shows a decrease of $500,000 from this year but this is because of $1.9 million in the current budget that represents transfers from fund balance and year-end surplus into reserve funds.
Most of the $1.9 million went into a restricted fund to guard against nursing home revenue, mostly for Medicaid, falling short of the budgeted amount and the rest went into reserve funds for long-term expenses, the county manager said, adding that the money for the nursing home has not been spent but will remain restricted.
“Those (transfers) are not repeating expenses so they should come out for an apples to apples comparison (of the budgets),” Levine said.
With the transfers removed, the proposed budget is up $1.4 million.
Most of the proposed increase for the coming year falls into two categories: health insurance and salaries and benefits, Levine said.
For the next fiscal year, there will be 27 instead of 26 pay periods, adding $350,000, and health insurance increases of 22 percent add another $260,000.
Nursing expenses are estimated to increase $550,000 and 10 capital projects planned for next year equal $575,000. Social services grants of $197,500 are spread among 11 agencies and include new requests for the Fall Mountain Food Shelf, N.H. Food Bank and Hope for N.H. Recovery.
If the budget is approved as proposed, it would leave the county with about a $4 million fund balance, Levine said.
“That is right where we want to be,” she said.
The commissioners’ budget will next be reviewed by the executive finance committee of the county’s delegation of state representatives, with a public hearing June 7 at 6 p.m. in Grantham.
Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com.
