The Barton County Commission held a special meeting Friday morning at the Barton County Courthouse to conduct a public hearing and take action on a amendments of the 2021 budget regarding the general, road and bridge, and special bridge funds.
“Despite the efforts of elected officials and department heads, budget estimates must be adjusted so that funds fall within budgetary laws,” Operations Director Matt Patzner said. Following the hearing, the commission approved the amendments allowing for the current budget to cover the operating expenses and possible transfers to reserves of unanticipated revenue for those funds.
“The budget amendments are requested due to unanticipated revenue from various sources, unrelated ad valorem (property) taxes,” he said. All three funds have sufficient unanticipated revenue and prior-year case carry forward on these requested amendments.
As far as the budget impact:
• The general fund budget will increase budget authority by $1 million to allow for the transfer of unanticipated revenue in reserve funds for future projects “if it’s deemed practical and necessary.”
• The road and bridge budget will increase budget authority by $315,000 to cover additional purchases of aggregates (rock for roads and other work) and other consumable goods that are necessary for operations, as well as future road overlay projects that will be funded by Federal Funds Exchange money and other unanticipated revenue.
• The special bridge budget will increase by $190,000 to allow for the transfer of unanticipated reserve funds for future projects “if it is deemed practical and necessary.”
“This does not commit to transferring into reserves,” Patzner said. “It just gives you additional budget authority so we don’t have a budget violation at audit time.”
The county’s pre-transfer reserves totaled $6,884,000 last year, and hit $9,384,000 after transfers. This year, reserves are at just under $8 million before any transfers take place.
Funds have been transferred as early as January or February, he said. But, lately, that has been pushed into June.
This is because it is closer to the county’s audit. “We have a clearer picture of exactly what our numbers are going to be to make more informed decision on what transfers we need,” Patzner said.
This also helps since the county is receiving more grants and more federal money coming in due to COVID-19 relief funds, he said.
