As the Marion County Board of Supervisors works to control costs and keep budgets in line, the group received a bit of good news: The county did not have to borrow money to finish the calendar year.
CPA Charlie Prince updated the Board Jan. 4 during its regularly scheduled week of meetings.
“We made it through October, November and December, where we used to have to borrow, and we wound up with $320,000 in the (general) fund there,” he said. “At least we worked toward getting rid of our shortage for those three months.”
Prince and his team submitted detailed accounts of individual fund budgets and spending for the Board to peruse.
“There are some negative numbers, including garbage and solid waste,” he said. “We haven’t yet begun to see the increase. It should be hitting next month and money should begin to flow in. Obviously, to help offset that increase, we have to decrease on the expense side of things, too. The increase (to the county, from provider, Waste Pro) was divided up between two years. We’ll be able to look at where we stand and deal with it.”
Prince said the fiscal year, which began in October, was off to a good start for the county.
“This may be a first, but pretty much everybody is under budget,” he said. “The good thing is that when you look at the totals, we’re 21 percent into a 33 percent budget. If we can just stay within what we’re doing and don’t have a bunch of outside things – additional expenses, it will be good.”
The Board also discussed the electronic bidding process and adding bidding information to the county’s website.
“We’re looking at what other counties are doing and how it works in with the new regulations,” Comptroller Susie Bridges said. “We have a meeting next week to discuss the process.”
The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Marion County Board of Supervisors has been moved to Jan. 16 because the regular meeting day was set for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Meetings are held at the Board offices on Courthouse Square.
