Carroll County finance director reports stable year‑to‑date revenues; budget amendment set for vote

Carroll County Finance Director Alicia Cersei reported that April revenue and expenditure ratios put the county in a broadly stable position heading into the fiscal year end, and presented a year‑end budget amendment commissioners will vote on at the next meeting.

Cersei said county revenue was tracking higher than expenditures this fiscal year, citing a revenue figure at roughly 90.74% of the year‑to‑date budget and expenditures at about 83.26% of the budget year. She noted licensing, permits and intergovernmental revenue have met budget, while fines, fees and forfeitures were running behind. “So expenditures are right under where we are for the year,” Cersei said.

The finance director outlined components of the year‑end budget amendment: an allocation tied to the previously approved sheriff’s training building purchase; a roughly $190,000 increase in workers’ compensation to cover recent settlements; timing adjustments that moved jail HVAC and other previously approved costs into the current fiscal year; retention payments for employees calculated with the county’s existing formula; and adjustments to reflect increases in hotel/motel tax receipts and opioid settlement receipts. She also said staff moved several capital funds to cover work at the solid waste transfer station and public works projects.

Cersei warned that unspent American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds must be spent by the end of the year or returned to the Treasury, and said the county has been spending ARPA on the administration building and other capital needs.

Commissioners discussed whether to place the audit engagement letter and the budget resolution on the consent agenda. Cersei said the county has an engagement letter with Rustin & Company for the annual audit that will conclude June 30, with audit fieldwork scheduled across July–September; commissioners agreed to put the engagement letter on consent but to take the budget amendment up for a vote Tuesday night.

The work session did not record a final vote on the amendment; the board scheduled the formal vote for its regular meeting.

A closing note: Cersei and commissioners acknowledged some packet numbers in the work session remarks were transcribed with unclear punctuation; where raw dollar amounts were unclear in the transcript, the presentation relied on the ratios and program‑level descriptions above.