Carroll County finance director reports $58.46 million in revenue through Dec. 31; collections in line with budget

Finance Director Alicia Searcy presented the county's December 31 financial report at the Jan. 29 work session, saying total revenue collected to date was $58,456,013.

"At the December, we had total revenue collected of $58,456,013," Searcy said. She summarized year-over-year variances by line item: general property tax receipts about 3% ahead of last year; local option sales tax up about 6%; insurance premium tax about 12% higher; local energy tax up about 5%; building permits and related fees about 13% higher; and charges for services about 4% higher.

Searcy reported that the county has collected approximately 68.4% of its annual budgeted revenues (68.29% at the same point last year). Expenditures, excluding capital purchases, were approximately 50.1% of budget (46.7% at the same point last year), which Searcy said indicates spending is tracking where expected.

On cash balances, the general fund showed $58,218,898, about $2.6 million lower than the same period last year. Searcy also outlined capital and department-level spending cited in the report, including approximately $221,000 at the judicial center, $56,000 at the administration building, about $87,000 for IT vehicles, $22,000 at the sheriff's office related to the new sheriff's office and jail facility, $23,000 for Motorola radio equipment for the fire department, roughly $255,000 for public works (gravel and other purchases), and $804,000 for the solid waste transfer station project. The transcript lists a payment to Balfour Beatty described as "1,000,000 789,000"; the presenter attributed that payment to the administrative project (amount as stated in the session).

Searcy concluded that after a roughly 4% budget increase, revenue and expenditure patterns indicate the county is on track to meet budgeted numbers for the year.