Stone County Passes $9.2 Million General Revenue Budget
January 30, 2020
Isaac Estes-Jones
The Stone County Commission approved the 2020 budget for the county on Thursday, January 23. The commissioners approved total appropriations of $20,700,466 across all funds.
General revenue fund appropriations come in at $9,245,343. Overall, the commission tried to take a conservative approach to the budget. “We put in income of about 1.5% less than we had come in last year,” said presiding commissioner Mark Maples. “We want to be sure we are safe in case revenues tank for any reason. Last year was a record year for income, but we always want to be safe.”
Other highlights from the general revenue budget include a substantial increase in spending for elections compared to the last two years. “There’s always more spending in presidential election years,” said Maples. $152,175 were appropriated for elections this year.
The building repairs and maintenance budget line increased to $100,000 for the 2020 budget, up from actual spending of $58,707 in 2019. “We are putting a new roof on the old part of the judicial building and replacing four air conditioning units that have been there since the 1990s,” said Maples. “That is the only roof that I know of that we haven’t replaced since I’ve been on the commission.”
Heath insurance costs are up throughout the budget. In general revenue, health insurance premiums jumped over $100,000 to $788,000 for the year.
Not all requests for funding were granted, as usual for any county budget. In particular this year, the county coroner requested $25,000 to purchase a cooler for the county. Currently, all services of that sort are sent out to other agencies or funeral homes. “Maybe next year we’ll have the funds,” said Maples. “We’d like to become more self-sufficient on that front, but it’s just not there this year.”
Several computer hardware and software systems will be updated this year, thanks to a $140,000 appropriation. “We were way behind on some of those, so this will bring us more up to speed,” said Maples.
The commission also approved spending an additional $15,000 on tourism and economic development, bringing the total for the year to $85,000.
The full budget will be available for public inspection on the Stone County Clerk’s website in the coming days.
The Stone County Commission approved the 2020 budget for the county on Thursday, January 23. The commissioners approved total appropriations of $20,700,466 across all funds.
General revenue fund appropriations come in at $9,245,343. Overall, the commission tried to take a conservative approach to the budget. “We put in income of about 1.5% less than we had come in last year,” said presiding commissioner Mark Maples. “We want to be sure we are safe in case revenues tank for any reason. Last year was a record year for income, but we always want to be safe.”
Other highlights from the general revenue budget include a substantial increase in spending for elections compared to the last two years. “There’s always more spending in presidential election years,” said Maples. $152,175 were appropriated for elections this year.
The building repairs and maintenance budget line increased to $100,000 for the 2020 budget, up from actual spending of $58,707 in 2019. “We are putting a new roof on the old part of the judicial building and replacing four air conditioning units that have been there since the 1990s,” said Maples. “That is the only roof that I know of that we haven’t replaced since I’ve been on the commission.”
Heath insurance costs are up throughout the budget. In general revenue, health insurance premiums jumped over $100,000 to $788,000 for the year.
Not all requests for funding were granted, as usual for any county budget. In particular this year, the county coroner requested $25,000 to purchase a cooler for the county. Currently, all services of that sort are sent out to other agencies or funeral homes. “Maybe next year we’ll have the funds,” said Maples. “We’d like to become more self-sufficient on that front, but it’s just not there this year.”
Several computer hardware and software systems will be updated this year, thanks to a $140,000 appropriation. “We were way behind on some of those, so this will bring us more up to speed,” said Maples.
The commission also approved spending an additional $15,000 on tourism and economic development, bringing the total for the year to $85,000.
The full budget will be available for public inspection on the Stone County Clerk’s website in the coming days.