Kendall County expecting a tight 2013 budget
By Steve Lord slord@stmedianetwork.com June 12, 2012 10:26AM
Updated: July 18, 2012 6:08AM
YORKVILLE — If budgets numbers were chickens, they might be coming home to roost this year in Kendall County.
As the County Board begins work on the 2013 budget year, board members are well aware that decisions they made in the 2012 fiscal year will affect their upcoming discussions.
For 2012, the board approved a $23 million general operating fund budget. That general fund included about a $1.23 million shortfall, which the board agreed to cover out of a $13 million fund balance.
By agreeing to cover the shortfall with the fund balance, the board was able to cut down how much it asked for in property taxes.
But the board likely cannot cover another shortfall in 2013.
“It’s going to be a tight year,” said Finance Committee Chairman Anne Vickery.
Vickery said letters outlining guidelines for department budgets have been sent out, and the county is asking department heads to hold non-union employees to 1 percent increases. The board is negotiating a number of its union contracts.
Vickery recommended no increases in line items for commodities, capital, furniture and initiatives as well as no increase in the number of employees or vehicles.
As it stands now, year-end projections for the 2012 deficit appear to be somewhere between $326,000 and about $400,000.
