County projects surplus

Curry County Commission-ers approved an $8 million budget Monday during a special meeting at the courthouse.

More than 50 percent of budget revenues are raised through property taxes, 40 percent through gross receipts taxes, and the remaining 10 percent through motor vehicle taxes and miscellaneous fees, according to County Manager Dick Smith.

The bulk of the county’s revenue is drained by law enforcement and county salaries, Smith said.

The county’s major improvement project for the 2006 fiscal year is the special events center. Construction of the $6 million multi-purpose center at the Curry County Fairgrounds is projected to begin in the spring.

Smith said the budget includes increased costs of insurance for road vehicles along with higher road construction costs in 2005-2006.

County workers also receive roughly a 2.75 percent pay increase.

Commissioner Tim Ashley described the 2005-2006 budget as “solid.” He said the county is “finally getting a grasp on some of the runaway costs that have been plaguing us for a long time.”

The turnaround, he said, corresponds to the arrival of the new jail annex and a 10 percent drop in prison population.

The county figures it will save about $900,000 in expenses in 2005-2006 as the annex will eliminate the need for out-of-state criminal housing. Ashley said the result will be a net savings of $300,000, which will help restore balance to the county reserve. The state requires a county maintain 1/4 of its budget in a reserve for emergencies, he said.

“What that extra money will really do is help us restore our reserve which has been severely depleted. The proceeds flowing into the county,” said Ashley — from expanded property values, better investments and a slowly decreasing jail population — “will ease the budget crisis.”

Ashley, however, said that his ideal expense budget would have included bigger raises for county workers. He said the county needs to end its “Band-Aid” approach to the problem.

“That 2.75 increase is really just a cost of living adjustment. We have to go further and look at market comparisons for wages and salaries. We need to get that study under way immediately; and continue with the detention center to lower costs more,” Ashley said.

Ultimately, the commissioner added, the budget is simply a “guideline.”

“Things happen between budget cycles that can change the picture,” Ashley said. “This is simply a best-guess (expenditure) forecast — what you think will happen.”