Goshen News, Goshen, IN

February 4, 2010

Auditor: County’s future not so bleak

By JOHN KLINE

While Elkhart County may be smack in the middle of one of the worse economic downturns in recent history, the future may not be as bleak as some may think.

That was the message put forth by Elkhart County Auditor Dave Hess during a presentation on the current economic outlook of the county held Thursday morning in Elkhart.

The presentation was part of the annual Elkhart County Commissioners and County Council Leadership Summit held this year at the Elkhart County Correctional Complex.

“Despite the doom and gloom, I think you’ll find some positive things in my comments,” Hess said to kick off his presentation, noting that the county has done some significant planning and strategizing over the past few months in order to find the most economically viable path forward.

“The strategic plan sessions in here put us in a position where we can weather some of this,” he said. “It has kept us from getting in a position where we’re just in a world of hurt.”

Central to the county’s woes are the recent implementation of property tax caps associated with HEA 101, which in 2010 set property tax caps at 1 percent of assessed valuation for homesteads, 2 percent for all other residential, agricultural land and long-term care facilities, and 3 percent for all other properties.

While such caps have admittedly created significant reductions in the county’s revenue stream, Hess noted that there have been some recent developments which may help cushion the blow — if only to a small degree.

First among the developments noted by Hess was the recent announcement by the Department of Local Government Finance that it will be making an excess county adjusted gross income tax fund distribution of $2.75 million to the county in the coming weeks.

According to Hess, Elkhart County government is slated to receive approximately $588,000 of the total distribution, with the remaining funding to be divided among the county’s various cities and towns.

“So that’s some additional monies that we hadn’t planned on,” Hess said, adding that the funds will be housed in the Rainy Day fund.

In addition to the excess CAGIT distribution, Hess noted that the DLGF will also be making an excess economic development income tax fund distribution of $549,000, with Elkhart County government slated to receive approximately $247,000 for infrastructure and development which will also go into the Rainy Day fund.

Current outlook



As for the county’s current fund outlook, Hess noted that the county’s general fund for 2009 saw a balance of $12.6 million, which is an increase over the 2008 balance of $12.4 million.

Also seen as a positive by Hess was the fact that the county’s Special CAGIT fund still maintains a balance of approximately $1.05 million 10 years after its implementation back in 2000.

That said, Hess noted that a majority of those special CAGIT funds have been allocated to go toward the county’s ongoing information technology upgrade, which includes everything from new phone and e-mail systems to implementation of a new, high-speed black fiber network.

Jumping back to the general fund, Hess noted that the total amount of requests for additional appropriations at the end of 2009 came to just $519,000 — a number significantly less than the $2.4 million in additional appropriation requests made at the end of 2008.

Hess said he feels such numbers really show that the county did an excellent job of streamlining its spending and keeping its requests for additional monies to a minimum in this time of economic stress.

“I think those are some positive kinds of things,” Hess said.

All positives aside, Hess noted that the county is by no means immune to the effects of the economy and the reduction in revenue due to the circuit breaker.

As an example, Hess referenced the special jail CAGIT fund, which he said is expected to see a reduction from its $8.6 million balance in 2010 to $7.5 million in 2011.

The same holds true for Fund 201, which handles bond payments and reserves. Hess noted that this fund could see its Jan. 1 balance of $11.8 million drop down to $9.85 million by 2013.