Barry County budget finalized for 2015
Pictured above, Barry County Clerk Gary Youngblood reads the 2015 budget message with county commissioners Gary Schad, Wayne Hendrix and Cherry Warren.
January 28, 2015
Charlea Mills
On Thursday, January 22, the Barry County Commissioners finalized the 2015 county budget. County Clerk, Gary Youngblood, read the 2015 budget message at a meeting in the Commissioners’ Chambers on Thursday, detailing the estimated revenue for the upcoming year and the amount the county will be allotting to each department.
As part of the budget discussion, Presiding Commissioner Cherry Warren praised the county’s voters for passing an additional 1/8 cent sales tax during the November 2013 general election. Warren stated, “We, as the County Commission, really appreciate the support of the county’s tax paying citizens for voting and passing the 1/8-cent sales tax to get us in a better position. I think this was a very sound decision. If we didn’t have that, we wouldn’t be able to work the budget the way we were able to. We had a banner year last year, but we were conservative with the funds we had.”
The sales tax revenue for 2014 ended up being more than figures estimated, with Barry County ending the year at 10.35 percent above revenue for 2013. Even so, the county opted to take a fiscally conservative approach at sales tax estimates for 2015. Estimated revenue for 2015 is $4,576,374, which includes sales tax revenue, intergovernmental revenues, charges for service and other revenue, as well as $711,477 that carried over from 2014. The county estimated sales tax revenue at $78,239 less than 2014.
In all, the various departments in the county requested $3,780,179 for their operations for the year. The county approved approximately 98 percent of what was requested. The county also included an additional $281,000 for Capital Projects, bumping the approved budget for 2015 up to $3,971,686 not including the Emergency Fund.
Almost each of the departments took a small decrease off of what they were requesting for the year with the largest deduction taken from the Sheriff’s Department. In 2014, the Sheriff’s Department received $700,027 for the year. This year, $730,847.26 was requested, but only $685,997 was approved by the commission. The majority of the funds cut, according to Youngblood, was due to a grant for the Cyber Crimes task force that was not approved by Governor Nixon this year. The department was anticipating those funds, totalling almost $35,000, that did not go through.
One big jump in the budget from 2014 to 2015 were funds allocated to the Prosecuting Attorney’s office. The department was requesting an additional $43,619 for the year, mostly due to a salary increase for the Prosecuting Attorney position implemented by the State and also a full-time Assistant Prosecutor position that was not applicable for the entire 2014 year. In all, most of the request was approved, shy of $5,564 cut on the final budget.
The jail received part of their requested increase, as well, but not all. The operating funds for the jail for 2015 will be $436,702, around $10,000 more than 2014 to help compensate for rising food costs for the inmates.
The complete budget is published below as it was sent by the county.
Charlea Mills
On Thursday, January 22, the Barry County Commissioners finalized the 2015 county budget. County Clerk, Gary Youngblood, read the 2015 budget message at a meeting in the Commissioners’ Chambers on Thursday, detailing the estimated revenue for the upcoming year and the amount the county will be allotting to each department.
As part of the budget discussion, Presiding Commissioner Cherry Warren praised the county’s voters for passing an additional 1/8 cent sales tax during the November 2013 general election. Warren stated, “We, as the County Commission, really appreciate the support of the county’s tax paying citizens for voting and passing the 1/8-cent sales tax to get us in a better position. I think this was a very sound decision. If we didn’t have that, we wouldn’t be able to work the budget the way we were able to. We had a banner year last year, but we were conservative with the funds we had.”
The sales tax revenue for 2014 ended up being more than figures estimated, with Barry County ending the year at 10.35 percent above revenue for 2013. Even so, the county opted to take a fiscally conservative approach at sales tax estimates for 2015. Estimated revenue for 2015 is $4,576,374, which includes sales tax revenue, intergovernmental revenues, charges for service and other revenue, as well as $711,477 that carried over from 2014. The county estimated sales tax revenue at $78,239 less than 2014.
In all, the various departments in the county requested $3,780,179 for their operations for the year. The county approved approximately 98 percent of what was requested. The county also included an additional $281,000 for Capital Projects, bumping the approved budget for 2015 up to $3,971,686 not including the Emergency Fund.
Almost each of the departments took a small decrease off of what they were requesting for the year with the largest deduction taken from the Sheriff’s Department. In 2014, the Sheriff’s Department received $700,027 for the year. This year, $730,847.26 was requested, but only $685,997 was approved by the commission. The majority of the funds cut, according to Youngblood, was due to a grant for the Cyber Crimes task force that was not approved by Governor Nixon this year. The department was anticipating those funds, totalling almost $35,000, that did not go through.
One big jump in the budget from 2014 to 2015 were funds allocated to the Prosecuting Attorney’s office. The department was requesting an additional $43,619 for the year, mostly due to a salary increase for the Prosecuting Attorney position implemented by the State and also a full-time Assistant Prosecutor position that was not applicable for the entire 2014 year. In all, most of the request was approved, shy of $5,564 cut on the final budget.
The jail received part of their requested increase, as well, but not all. The operating funds for the jail for 2015 will be $436,702, around $10,000 more than 2014 to help compensate for rising food costs for the inmates.
The complete budget is published below as it was sent by the county.
