Nov 15, 2018 3 min read

Greene County commissioners plan to vote today on the county’s 2019 preliminary budget, a spending plan that will require the county to dip slightly into its savings, but will not increase taxes.

Commissioner Blair Zimmerman said the budget “looks good” just before he expressed his concern about the continuing gradual loss in local tax revenue from coal.

“We’re pleased with the direction we’re going and what we have done as commissioners,” Zimmerman said following Wednesday’s meeting in which they agreed to place the preliminary budget on the agenda for approval this morning. “But we also know that in the future, it (the loss of coal revenue) is going to affect us and we’ll have to be looking at all our options.”

This year, the county saw about a $28 million loss in assessed value attributed to coal depletion, which is coal that has been mined and removed from the tax rolls.

That number, however, was somewhat balanced by a $12 million increase in the assessed value attributed to surface properties, according to Scott Kelley, county budget director.

The decline in the assessed value of coal resulted in an estimated $46,000 drop in property tax revenue. The loss in tax revenue from coal has been the trend.

“Sometimes it’s more, sometimes it’s less, but there is a drop (in coal value) every year,” Kelley said. “Eventually, we’ll get to the point where we are not as dependent on coal.”

For now, the county remains on solid footing partially because of its savings, which includes money in a fund balance and in a capital project fund, which includes Act 13 savings and other monies such as liquid fuels funds.

“Act 13 has been a real blessing for us,” Zimmerman said.

The preliminary general fund budget calls for $19,238,525 in spending and $19,050,373 in revenue. The $188,151 difference will be made up with money from the fund balance and Act 13.

The county had a fund balance of about $3 million and a capital project fund of about $3.2 million in December, the last time the fund was officially calculated, chief clerk Jeff Marshall said.

In regard to expenditures, Marshall said, the county will see a major increase in medical insurance costs of about $500,000. It also will see increases in employee costs, including salaries, about $200,000; retirement contributions, about $100,000 and rental expense, about $50,000.

The county on the spending side also has been able to find significant savings during the year, Marshall said. This was accomplished through changes in insurance providers and through the use of an energy broker to reduce utility costs.

The current millage rate is 7.535 mills. The county has not raised taxes since 2008, Zimmerman said.

The proposed county budget can be viewed on the Greene County webpage or at the county office building during regular business hours. The commissioners intend to grant final approval of the spending plan at their Dec. 13 meeting.