The Harrison County Commission has more than $1 million in surplus, but it still may not be enough to cover requests from agencies and other projects.
This year's fund balance is $1,070,957 according to James Harris, county administrator. The balance is money carried over from the previous year's budget.
A portion of the fund has been designated to county employees as part of a 3 percent pay raise approved by commissioners earlier this week. The pay raises will account for about $200,000, Harris said.
The cost of courthouse renovations will also come from the fund, Harris said. The estimated cost of those renovations is approximately $350,000, he said.
"It could be higher or lower than $350,000 because it will depend on any change orders in construction," Harris said.
The final expense for renovations will not be known until the end of December when construction is completed.
After the costs for pay raises and renovations have been deducted, the remaining balance the commission has to work with is approximately $521,000, Harris said.
The commission has not yet granted outstanding requests from various agencies asking for monies from the fund. The amount of requests totals more than $307,000, Harris said.
If the commission grants those requests, it leaves approximately $213,000 to put into a contingency fund, Harris said. That fund is a broad-based pool set aside for things that come up outside of the budget.
Harris said the $213,000 is less than what is normally designated for the contingency fund.
The requests have been tabled at previous meetings over the last couple weeks. Commissioners will be discussing the requests at future meetings and deciding where to distribute the excess monies.
"The budget for the county rests constitutionally with the commission and they have to make the decision on where to spend the funds to best accomplish the process of county government," he said.
June 30 was the end of the fiscal year when the county closed its books. At the end of the fiscal year, the county can not have a deficit and must have a surplus.
Staff writer Jennifer Biller can be reached at 626-1449 or jbiller@exponent-telegram.com.
