The Tax Court presents the budget proposal for the financial year 22-23

The Daviess County Tax Court released its draft budget for the 2022-23 fiscal year on Tuesday.
“We’ve taken Daviess County Tax Court to the next level,” said Executive Judge Al Mattingly, who is now on 12 county budgets. “We’ve paved more roads, solved issues like animal control, issues like property maintenance.”
A general overview of the budget is as follows:
The general fund is budgeted at $49.6 million, an increase of approximately $11 million.
Total expenses are budgeted at $10.2 million, an increase of $900,000 largely due to salary and benefit increases.
Solid Waste construction is $1.6 million and the Solid Waste Operating Fund expects to raise revenue of $10-11 million.
Daviess County Treasurer Jim Hendrix said general fund revenue “will remain flat,” with an increase of about $200,000 in property taxes (a normal increase according to Hendrix) and a decrease of $800,000. $ tax on insurance premiums due to lower convention center premium. tax.
Business tax has increased, with an increase of approximately $900,000.
Funding for the sheriff’s office is set at $2.8 million.
The road fund will receive a state reimbursement of $430,000 and the Lyddane Bridge will receive $325,000.
Funding for the Local Government Asphalt and Economic Assistance Fund is $1.65 million, an increase of $300,000.
It has been proposed that the prison fund have $3.8 million, which is a significant increase as last year’s budget did not show the $1.2 million the prison received for the funding from CARES.
“The increase looks a lot bigger, but from actual to actual the increase isn’t that big, but from budget to budget it’s so big,” Hendrix said.
The Solid Waste Fund continues to operate as intended by providing a sufficient amount of funding for its own operations in accordance with its five-year plan. This budget year, Hendrix said they plan to purchase a $1.4 million compactor to help build a new airframe.
Mattingly said the county was about $14 million in debt; however, he said by the end of fiscal year 23-24, the debt will be less than $10 million.
The budget distribution of the departments is as follows:
Capital expenditure
The Parks Department will receive $500,000 for capital repairs and maintenance and $150,000 for Panther Creek Park on three of its lots. The total budget is $2.6 million.
The fire department will have two trucks to budget for. One is a carryover, but both trucks cost around $540,000 each. Some gears are replaced per annual practice at around $180,000. The department is also adding some sirens for the EMA.
The highways department sees $160,000 added to its funding for a tractor and a bushhog. A single axle dump truck was added for $65,000 with other equipment totaling $30,000. Asphalting for Road Funds receives $859,000 – of which $641,000 is paid by LGEAF. State FLEX funds are just under $300,000. The Bridge Fund will contribute $80,000.
The engineering department is given a budget of $325,000 to help build a bridge.
In terms of major projects, there is a deferral of the $1.2 million public radio station project and a KIA flow-through grant to the Eastern Waters District of $850,000.
The RWRA receives $2 million and the Senior Citizen Center also receives $2 million. Habitat for Humanity has already received $1 million.
Other infrastructure projects will receive $4.9 million.
This totals government funds to $17.5 million.
Company funds
The budget includes the purchase of a compactor for $1.4 million, a tractor for land farming for $300,000, a tanker truck for $143,000 which has already arrived. A Green Compost Grant of $300,000 will only be spent if a grant is received.
The transfer station replaced 2 tractors for $255,000, 2 trailers for $212,000 and a roll off for $164,000.
The construction fund will see $1.2 million for the installation of cladding.
Some of the purchases are carryovers from the current year because the items have not arrived.
Agency Funding Grants
The total went from $949,868 to $905,639, the drop is mainly due to the airport for a project they added. There are one-time awards, including $100,000 for the Western Kentucky Botanical Garden, $25,000 for the HL Neblett Center Academy, and $62,000 remaining from a previous grant to the Science and History Museum. of Owensboro and others.
Debt Summary
On June 30, 2022, the county’s debt will be $11.6 million. Hendrix said $2.7 million had already been received, bringing the balance down to $8.9 million.
Hendrix said that number is a rather low number for agencies the size of Daviess County.
Revenue
Real estate increases by $300,000 – $200,000 is the ultimate change while the remaining $100,000 must catch up to the last budget.
Excess charges are overstated by $1.5 million for this year as it is the end of a four year term, however, the accounting for the Sheriff’s and Clerk’s Office is going through the state and will balance.
The county will receive its final allocation of ARPA funds in two weeks, which will be applied to the FY21-22 budget. With this, the FY22-23 budget does not reflect any additional ARPA funds.
The rest of the revenue remains about the same as Hendrix said and didn’t go into item detail.
County Attorney’s Office
The Office should receive 1.4 million dollars but the tax court and the taxes do not pay the whole sum. Child support reimbursement is about $900,000, and juvenile drug court is split between city and county.
Other government offices
Hendrix said the total is rising from $2.8 million to $3.0 million, primarily due to salary and benefit increases.
The county treasurer’s office receives a $35,000 increase due to reassignments and cost of living. Human resources also sees a few thousand dollars increase.
Information Systems has increased by $10,000 in the budget for a total of $291,000.
The Court House Operations fund rose slightly according to Mattingly. However, the Judicial Center sees $417,000 allocated to them, which represents a decrease of $8,000 compared to last year.
The WKU-O facility has a budget of $5,000 for repairs and maintenance.
In total, the budget for government offices is down $3 million to $9.2 million.
General Health and Sanitation has a $4 million deduction budgeting it at $1 million for the fiscal year. This is due to the lack of capital cost needed to add to the animal control building.
General Charity and Welfare raised a small amount – $7,500 for a grant and a $5,000 raise for the dental clinic.
The Tourism Commission has budgeted $540,000, up from $450,000 last year. This is due to increased travel in Daviess County. It is compensated by a hotel tax of 3%.
Transportation Busing Services will receive $300,000 from the Court and then be reimbursed 100%.
The pleasure of general services is mainly due to professional services and also to government agencies.