BLAIRSVILLE, GA – On Dec. 27, 2019, Commissioner Lamar Paris approved the 2020 operating budget and cited higher costs, insurance, and salaries as the reasons behind the almost 14 percent increase from 2019. However, the county’s also taken in more revenues to account for the growing budget.

“Something we work many months on preparing,” opened Paris. “Our goal is, and always has been, to keep our millage rate and tax rate as close as to what it is each year without raising the public’s taxes.”

It will cost $19,462,648 to operate Union County in 2020, and several departments are seeing a bump in budgets for various reasons.

Insurance costs have increased an average of $450,000 every year for the past four years. The county workforce is “getting a little bit older,” and medical care continues to go up every year.

Property and liability insurance have also risen roughly $50,000 in the last four years.

Revenues meet expenditures in 2020.

Board of Elections must purchase new all new voting equipment for 2020 because the entire state is switching to a new system. Voters will now receive a paper ballot after casting votes electronically to confirm their selections before leaving their voting precinct. The state is providing funds to cover the initial costs. Currently, no one knows the final expense for the additional security and machines. Overall, Elections received around $50,000 in additional funding for the new technology.

“It seems like every service in the county is going up because when you’ve got a good economy, everything costs more,” said Paris, “You’ve got to pay people to keep people.”

Asphalt prices went up to $11 per ton, and in 2019, Union purchased 9,300 tons of asphalt, resulting in another $100,00 from the budget.

Court costs also continue to go up – public defenders by $50,000; juvenile Court went up by $60,000; and district attorney’s office by $70,000.

Union County Sheriff’s Office (UCSO) budget features of $500,000 increase for a total of $3,605,857.Most of the funds will go toward deputies’ salaries to prevent workers from leaving for higher jobs in other counties. Salaries have consistently risen over the last four years to keep the UCSO workforce.

“In Jan., UCSO is trading in their ten highest mileage 2018 Ford Explorers for ten 2020 Dodge Durangos. We’re in full compliance with that, and we understand that. I think that’s the best thing they could do, but again that’s more money. What we’re trying to [identify] is we can find the right vehicles and trade them on a year to two-year basis, which is something we’ve never been able to do before. We could get a cost of trade in as little as $2,000 to $4,000 trading in the vehicle and getting a brand new one the next year. Not sure how that’s all going to work, we’re in the process, but we’re having to pay the first time, this [year],” Paris explained the new vehicle trade process for the UCSO.

The 2020 budget doesn’t require the county to dip into the fund balance. Revenue equals expenditures for the year. The fund balance, as of now, has around two months in reserves. Government Financial Officers Association (GFOA) recommends county governments keep at least two months of regular operating revenues on hand to cover expenditures.

“We wouldn’t be able to do [everything] without more revenue coming in the last four years,” stated Paris. “We’d have to raise taxes so much without our revenues.”

In 2019, building permits are up $130,000; Title Ad Valorem increased by $310,000; real estate transfer rose by $35,000; LOST is up $300,000; transportation fares up by $10,000; and insurance premium increased by $400,000.

The 2020 budget doesn’t feature the U.S. Forestry permits for the new gun range. SPLOST, grants, and the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will help to fund the range. DNR offers a matching incentive to counties who open a gun range up to the public. This project is currently in the early stages, including determining the final cost.