Resident questions Franklin County budget presentation and reports ICE sightings; county official says accounting convention explains 'negative' figures

Valerie Jordan, a Fayetteville resident, told Franklin County commissioners during public comment that she found a general government line item (16891000) showing a "minus dollar amount of $75,000" and said she tallied about $534,503 in negative amounts across five line items. She also criticized the county for transferring funds to supplemental accounts while correctional officers have not received a pay increase, and said she and others had seen ICE activity in parts of the county.

Jordan said, "I found the line item, which showed a minus dollar amount of $75,000 ... I did add up a total of minus $534,503 in 5 line items in the general government operations budget." She added that the transfer of what she described as $792,000 to supplemental funds raised questions about priorities and pay for correctional staff.

A county official identified in the meeting as Commissioner Gary, speaking with fiscal staff present, told Jordan the minus symbol in the report does not indicate that money was withdrawn. "The report where you indicate a minus dollar amount of 75,700 is actually not a negative in the dollars," he said, explaining that fund-based accounting rules and the county's target-based budgeting techniques require certain entries to be shown with a minus symbol to reflect posting rules and projected vacancies rather than actual overspending.

Gary said the larger figure Jordan referenced — $792,546 — represented the total of approved supplemental funding requests that are posted to legally separate funds "and in this case, an accounting fund, not a bank transfer." He added that the shortfall Jordan perceived is largely an artifact of how departments and vacancy assumptions are budgeted. He also noted that a proposed pay increase for correctional officers was rejected by union members during contract negotiations.

Kim Woods of Chambersburg, who spoke later in the public-comment period, said she has followed the county's budget process for years and trusts the fiscal director. She also cautioned listeners about identifying unmarked vehicles as ICE: "They could be EPA. They could be any, government agency. In fact, they could be ... a private vehicle. And, yes, they do rent vehicles."

The board did not take formal action on the public comments. Commissioners directed staff to provide clarification in response to the emailed questions Jordan referenced and moved on to the rest of the agenda.