LAKEPORT >> The Lake County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the county’s recommended budget Tuesday.
The county’s general fund totals nearly $56 million, which represents an increase of more than $1 million when compared to last year, according to Lake County Chief Administrative Officer Matt Perry. Revenues for the county total a little more than $164 million.
Staffing has increased by 37 position since last year, bringing the total to 1,002 positions.
“Most of these positions are in non-general fund departments such as Social Services … to maximize available state and federal funding,” Perry explained.
Only selected departments were reviewed during the meeting, as a public hearing will be held on Sept. 2 regarding the final recommended budget. After the hearing the final budget is expected to be adopted.
“Complete budget narratives and staff’s final recommendations for each budget unit will provided in advance of the public hearing,” Perry said. “The primary goal at this point … is to maintain service levels.”
According to Perry, many county departments are maintaining the status quo. Museums, libraries, as well as the building and safety department were among those discussed as they “have struggled to maintain service levels in the past few years.”
Museums, which has been funded with discretionary revenues since 2008’s recession will receive return to being funded with transient occupancy taxes (TOT) — which has started to recover.
“With the museum curator becoming an active partner in our destination marketing efforts, it is appropriate to being funding the museum with TOT,” Perry explained.
A total of $10,000 will be transferred from the county’s marketing and economic development budget.
The Lake County Library is also partially funded by the marketing budget.
Last year, Lake County Library Director Christopher Veach told the board that the library’s operating budget was “not sustainable” and recommended using $50,000 of the library’s reserve funds, which totals approximately $150,000, to maintain hours of operation.
However, by offering visitor information services, $40,000 from the marketing budget was transferred to the library fund. The same amount will be transferred this year.
“County overhead is still much higher than usual due to the construction of the Middletown Library and Senior Center,” Perry said.
A total of a little more than $80,000 in geothermal funds is being used to offset the increased cost.
As for building and safety, a total of a little more than $230,000 will be transferred from the county general fund to preserve staffing levels.
Perry said that “permit revenues have not fully recovered since the recession while other costs continue to increase.” This is despite the reduction of building inspection staff at the beginning of the recession.
It will be during the public hearing that complete budget narratives and final recommendations will be presented to the board.
Funding for new projects with one-time money will also be discussed during the hearing, as “it is premature to add to the budget … until the final, uncommitted fund balance carryover amount is known in August.”
However, funding for continuing projects were approved with the recommended budget.
Projects include the construction of curbs, gutters and sidewalks on Highway 20 in Clearlake Oaks, which will be allocated more than $2.6 million.
Road and bridge projects, including the South Main Street/Soda Bay Road corridor project, will account for more than $9.8 million.
A total of $3.7 million with go toward capital improvements to existing water systems throughout the county.
Improvements to the Lake County Hill Road Correctional Facility will account for $3.4 million, of which $1.5 million will be an interim loan since “state grant funding will be provided on a reimbursement basis.”
As the budget is still in draft form, some aspects may change between the approved recommended budget and final draft in September.
Contact J. W. Burch, IV at 900-2022.
