County Ends Fiscal Year with $37.5 Million in Savings
Author: Administrative Office
Date: 9/13/2017 1:55 PM
The Board of Supervisors chose to allocate those extra funds to savings accounts, pension debts, and future projects.
The County of San Luis Obispo ended fiscal year (FY) 2016-17 with $6.5 million more than expected in savings, for a total of $37.5 million in General Fund savings.
“The fund balance available this year is due to unused contingency funds, expenditure savings, and higher-than-anticipated property tax revenue,” said County Budget Director Emily Jackson. “We strive to be fiscally responsible and good stewards of public funds. Diligent budget monitoring throughout the year assures that we stay within budget each year, and are often able to come in under budget without sacrificing service levels to the public.”
The Board voted on Tuesday to allocate the extra funds to:
- Save for unpredictable or unforeseen expenses
- Pay down the County’s pension debt
- Fund a project to remodel a space in the Old Courthouse that was previously used for the County’s internal print and copy services
- Set aside funds for future projects, and
- Fully fund the addition of two Sheriff’s Deputies for the Shandon area, which had previously been approved by the Board during the June Budget Hearing
Staff reported on Tuesday that the County ended the year in a strong financial position and several departments ended the year under budget. Departments with significant General Fund savings included the County Fire Department ($1.9 million in unspent funds), Public Works ($1.5 million in unspent funds), Planning and Building ($1.4 million in unspent funds), the Health Agency ($817,000 in unspent funds), the District Attorney’s Office ($539,000 in unspent funds), and Social Services ($531,000 in unspent funds). County Airports also ended the year with a 15.7 percent increase in passengers boarding flights, the highest annual rate of growth over the last 10 years.
