Alleghany County finance officer reports steady revenues, $35.45M across accounts

April Ham, Alleghany County’s chief finance officer, presented the county’s year-to-date financial position to commissioners and answered questions about investment and grant accounting.

Ham said year-to-date revenue was $12,832,846.43 (54% of the approved general fund budget) and year-to-date expenditures were $12,276,548.86 (51% of the approved general fund budget) at roughly 46% of the fiscal year. She reported checking account funds of $5,380,313.80 and savings of $9,052,846.03 for a combined $14,433,159.83; total funds across the county’s accounts amounted to $35,452,345.59. Net financials after accounting for revenue and expenditures were reported at $556,297.57.

Ham also reported local option sales tax (July–October) receipts of $533,579.85, an increase of $38,617.14 over the same period last year. She described investments in the North Carolina Capital Management Trust and said the county has gained modest earnings in those accounts. Ham recommended the county consider adopting a formal investment policy based on templates from the Local Government Commission (LGC) and the state treasurer’s office; she said the county removed three investment categories from the template (commercial paper, repurchase agreements and certain federal agency instruments) before bringing it back for future board consideration.

Ham said staff would return to the board with a formal investment policy for consideration and offered to answer follow-up questions about departmental expenditures and the grant reimbursement processes currently in use for projects such as Sparta’s wastewater work.