NEWPORT — With just a few questions at a public hearing Tuesday, the Sullivan County delegation of state representatives appear ready to approve the county commissioners’ proposed $35.82 million dollar budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1.
The delegation will meet again at 1 p.m. June 28 to vote on the budget, though the location of the meeting has not been determined.
Sullivan County Manager Derek Ferland presented the spending plan to the delegation at Tuesday’s hearing. Ferland said in his initial proposal to the commissioners that the amount to be raised by taxes had been projected to increase 29% but now would rise by 12%.
“With some good fortune and a lot of hard work, we were able to get the number down. But it’s been tough,” Ferland said.
Ferland, and George Hebert, chairman of the three-member commission, said this year with rising inflation and higher wages, county officials had to balance the burden on taxpayers against taking care of county employees and infrastructure.
“We did not do enough, but we have to look out for the taxpayer also,” Hebert said.
Ferland said the county used $1.7 million to offset tax increases for next year. The money, he said, will come from the undesignated fund balance ($500,000), Sullivan County Health Care reserve fund ($300,000) and lower expenses ($900,000 or about 2.5%) in the current budget. The commissioners also trimmed about $700,000 from Ferland’s original budget in several areas including wages.
The county’s fund balance will dip just below the target of $3 million, but Ferland said there is “minimal risk” to using $500,000 to keep taxes down.
The “good fortune” Ferland talked about includes $400,000 more in revenue than was anticipated for the county’s ProShare payment it receives from the federal government for the nursing home operation.
On the expense side, Ferland said the county increased its starting pay by $3 an hour to $15.06 to keep pace with other employers in the area. Higher costs for electricity (budgeted to rise 50%), fuel and food also drove the budget increase of about 4.25%.
The need for higher wages is evident with a vacancy rate in nursing home kitchen help hitting 55%. At one point and the county called on assistance from the National Guard to operate the facility. Ferland said they need the equivalent of 14 full-time employees for the dining facility but currently have only six, thus the increase in the starting salary, which is what many in that area are paid.
Personnel costs, which make up 74% of the budget, are estimated at $21.7 million, though Ferland could not say at the hearing how much of an increase that is from this year.
Also on the positive side is the growing value of property in Sullivan County, which increased 23.5% in 2021 to $6.8 billion.
“Our region continues to see robust growth and rising property values across the board which will have a positive impact on tax rates,” Ferland said in a letter to the delegation last month.
The budget includes $60,000 for a new position as the county transitions to a separate finance department and $65,000 for a full-time grant writer.
If approved as presented, Ferland said county taxes on a $250,000 property in Sullivan County would increase $81 a year.
Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com.
