{"id":189,"date":"2021-01-20T21:39:00","date_gmt":"2021-01-20T21:39:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mikesylvia.org\/?p=189"},"modified":"2021-01-20T21:39:01","modified_gmt":"2021-01-20T21:39:01","slug":"2021-belknap-county-budget","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mikesylvia.org\/?p=189","title":{"rendered":"2021 Belknap County Budget"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The\ncounty board of commissioners\u2019 budget for 2021 proposes to raise\nproperty taxes by 12%. As is always the case the commissioners have\nprovided enough padding in the budget to allow them to spend as they\ndesire without needing to manage a budget. They are also using $2\nmillion from fund balance (previously paid taxes).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s\nnote here that many of the county\u2019s senior citizens will be getting\na 1.3% increase in their social security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we\nknow the commissioners like to compare one budget to the next in\norder to downplay the actual increase they are seeking. The 2020\nbudget was $30,829,837 which was ~$2.25 million higher than was\nneeded to fund county operations in 2020. In other words the\ntaxpayers were forced to pay $2.25 million more than was necessary\nfor county operations in 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now\nlet\u2019s compare the 2020 spending of ~$28,600,000 to the 2021\ncommissioners\u2019 request of $31,961,320. We can see here that\nspending would increase by 11.8%, compare that to growth (loss) in\nthe non-government sector. Because the commissioners use the\nbudget-to-budget scheme they can claim the increase in spending is\nonly<\/strong> 4% over 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While\nthis escalation of spending is bad enough on the surface it is\nactually worse. The commissioners have finally removed a taxpayer\ngift to Community Health Services Network, LLC. from their budget.\nThat line in 2020 was $580,000. In the end a little less than\n$300,000 was given to this corporation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we\nlook at bringing common sense to the county budget, we should be\nstaying within $28.3 million (28.6 million minus $300,000) with a 2%\nmaximum for inflation. Using such a sensible method will put spending\nfor 2021 at ~$28,900,000. Taking this reasonable projection of the\nfunds needed to run the county shows that the commissioners have\nasked for $2.9 million more than is necessary. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nexecutive committee has gone through the budget and removed some of\nthe fat. They have pared down the spending to $30,256,185 which is an\nincrease in spending over 2020 of 5.6%, well above inflation. As I\nhave said in the past, governments can only grow faster than the\ngeneral economy for a short period of time before large problems\nforce a solution upon them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The citizens of the county have faced many challenges in 2020 from an economy disrupted by the reactions to the virus. The county has amassed a fund balance beyond the commissioners\u2019 upper limits. A $6,000,000 fund balance is 20% of the county\u2019s annual budget. How many of our citizens have savings of 20% of their annual salary? Few, I will guess. The executive committee has budgeted a return of $3,000,000 to the taxpayers, giving them a bit of relief while maintaining ample funds to handle any emergencies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This is how the administration views the budget, comparing to the previous budget.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The county administration loves to obfuscate reality by comparing budget-to-budget. We know that the 2020 budget had over 2 million dollars appropriated that were not necessary. So, in order to get a proper evaluation take the 2020 budget of $30,829,837 and subtract the excess $2,250,000 to start with a realistic budget of $28,579,837. Now you will see that the commissioners\u2019 request is an 11.8% increase. The executive committee is allowing for an actual spending increase of 5.8% which is well above inflation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A quick review<\/h3>\n\n\n\n