×

2019 Tentative Budget

Borrello Wants To Use No-Fund Balance For Plan

Chautauqua County Executive George Borrello P-J photo by Dennis Phillips

MAYVILLE — It was County Executive George Borrello’s goal in preparing his first tentative county budget to have a financial plan where recurring expenses are covered by recurring revenue.

So far, so good for the first year county executive as he presented a tentative budget to the Chautauqua County Legislature at the Gerace Office Building Wednesday that will use no unassigned general fund balance.

Borrello said the $254 million budget proposal is the first time in at least 10 years a fiscal plan has been proposed with no use of unassigned fund balance, which is comparable to a savings account. He said it is recommended that the county has a fund balance of between 5 to 15 percent of the total budget. He added the county has 6.5 percent of its total budget in savings, which is barely above the minimum recommended amount.

Borrello said bond counsel has told county officials having a structurally balanced budget is good for the county’s bond rating, which means they pay less interest when they borrow money for projects. He said the fund balance is there for county officials for when unexpected emergency expenses arise.

“A balanced budget signifies that we are able to live within our means without a burdensome tax increase lurking year after year,” he said.

Other highlights of the tentative budget included Borrello discussing how he has proposed no change in the tax rate, which is $8.44 per $1,000 assessed property value. He said because the proposed budget doesn’t include any one-shot revenue increases it is a “major achievement” to have a tentative budget without a tax rate increase.

Borrello has also proposed a budget to invest $4.4 million in county infrastructure. He said county officials earlier this year had to reallocate about $4 million from the undesignated fund balance over to the capital reserve account. Because of this, he said it is an opportunity to “beef up” the capital projects budget for 2019. He added that $3.4 million will be used to invest in Public Facilities Department equipment and to improve roads and bridges. Also, $600,000 will go to improve county facilities and $400,000 will go toward other vehicle and equipment investments.

The county executive is also proposing to shut down the landfill methane electric plan, which has been losing money. Borrello said in 2017 the operation lost $139,089 and this year the plant is projected to lose around $200,000. He said the proposal is to sell the methane gas as renewable natural gas.

He added the plan should generate more than $1 million in profit with no investment in infrastructure.

“This is a great way to build our fund balance and build on future budgets,” Borrello said.

In 2019, Borrello also wants to operate the emergency medical services program — also known as “fly-cars” — as a 24-hour, seven days a week operation. Currently, the fly-car program operates 12 hours a day, six days a week. He said the fly-car system has filled important gaps in EMS service throughout the county. However, he said sometimes there is still up to a 40-minute response time wait for EMS calls.

“By adding an ambulance and going to 24/7 service, we can reduce those wait times while also allowing us to bill for Medicaid transports,” he said.

Borrello has also proposed changes to the county health insurance program and the bidding process to lower costs. Overall, he said the $254 million 2019 budget proposal increases spending by $200,000 compared to the 2018 budget, which is less than .1 percent.

“We have an opportunity to pass a historic county budget, which is structurally balanced, uses no unrestricted reserves, holds the line on taxes and invest in county infrastructure at unprecedented level — four items I believe have never been proposed and achieved together within the same budget year,” he said.

Next week, the county legislature will start to deliberate on the proposed fiscal plan during scheduled budget hearings, which are scheduled to start at 8:30 a.m, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday.

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

COMMENTS

[vivafbcomment]

Starting at $4.62/week.

Subscribe Today