County Reports Financial Status for Second Quarter
Author: Administrative Office
Date: 3/20/2019 4:58 PM
Overall the County is on track financially in the current fiscal year. However, some issues could impact the General Fund in the third quarter.
On Tuesday, March 12, County Administrative Analyst Lisa Howe presented the Second Quarter Financial Status Report to the Board of Supervisors, providing an overview of the County’s expenses and revenues in the current fiscal year and noting some unresolved issues reported by County departments.
At the end of the second quarter this year, the County had spent 39% of the budgeted General Fund expenditures and had received 38% of budgeted revenue, which is on par with the second quarter last year.
Howe noted six issues reported in the second quarter, which included:
- An operational shortfall of $560,738 in the Parks and Recreation Department. The department predicted the shortfall in July 2018, and at that time the Board of Supervisors approved an updated cost-recovery policy for the department that would aim to do two things: (1) recover costs through fees for services that have primarily an individual benefit (e.g., camping, beach wedding rentals, etc.), and (2) provide General Fund support for services that have primarily a community-wide benefit (e.g., playgrounds, aquatics, etc.). The Board on Tuesday approved a budget adjustment from General Fund contingencies to cover the shortfall.
- The Sheriff’s Office will potentially exceed budgeted expenses, which is expected to have a General Fund impact of $2.9 million. This is partially offset by savings in other accounts, but about $1.8 million is due to negotiated, but unbudgeted, salary and benefits increases, while $3 million is because some positions at the department are vacant and hard to fill, which means some department staff members are working overtime to ensure public safety services aren’t impacted by vacancies. However, the Board took no action on Tuesday, as the department will provide a plan to address overtime in the third quarter report and potentially request a budget adjustment at that time if it is needed.
- The Health Agency’s Behavioral Health Department expects to exceed its budget by $929,000, because they aren’t receiving as much revenue and have some unbudgeted expenses. The deficit is due to contracted psychiatrist and nurse practitioner services, therapeutic foster care and specialty mental health services for youth, However, this overage is not expected to impact the General Fund as the Health Agency plans to cover the gap with savings in other accounts and fund centers.
- The Department of Social Services foster care and adoptions programs have higher expenses than originally budgeted due to rate increase, new state guidelines, and an increase in General Assistance expenses. However, there is no expected impact to the General Fund as the costs will be covered by Federal and State funding.
- The Department of Social Services General Assistance Fund Center also expects to be over budget by $74,196 due to a revenue shortfall for reimbursements from the Supplemental Security Income as well as added costs related to new General Assistance eligibility policy changes approved by the Board in November 2018. However, the Board took no action on Tuesday, as the department will continue to monitor the budget and provide an update and potentially request a budget adjustment at that time if it is needed.
- An operational shortfall for Dairy Creek Golf Course because of a decline in revenue, which is expected to result in a previously approved General Fund subsidy of about $439,113 during the third quarter of the year. The Board took no action on Tuesday, as the department plans to continue monitoring the budget and provide an update on the El Chorro Regional Park Programming Plan, which include the Dairy Creek Golf Course.
After the presentation the Board of Supervisors also accepted donations totaling $111,060, approved a request for Relief of Accountability in the amount of $51,302, and authorized about $1.16 million in budget adjustments, including the $560,738 in General Fund Contingencies as noted above.
Watch the 13-minute presentation and discussion:
