By DEBRA HAIGHT
BCR Correspondent
ST. JOSEPH – The COVID-19 pandemic has turned life upside down in 2020, from individuals losing their jobs and businesses closing to government leaders at the local, county and state levels wondering how they’re going to balance their budgets and still provide needed services.
In the several months since the pandemic hit, local governmental bodies and school boards have sounded the alarm that their budgets will be looking a lot different due to the revenue loss associated with COVID-19. While some have since revised forecasts to be a little less gloomy, they predict uncertain times for the next few years.
Berrien County is no exception. County officials have been working on the new 2021 budget for months and held several public hearings culminating in county board action last week to approve the new budget. The county’s fiscal year is the same as the calendar year and begins Jan. 1.
County Administrator Brian Dissette told commissioners that the new 2021 budget will look a lot like the 2019 budget. He and other county officials kept commissioners abreast of budget developments over the last few months and also hosted a number of public hearings in recent weeks.
“This is a somewhat difficult budget to put together because of the uncertainty in the county, state and country,” Dissette said earlier this month. “There’s no good playbook to offer, we’ve tried to go as conservative as possible. This budget will look very similar to the 2019 budget, we’re trying to rein in spending as much as possible.”
He noted that he had dozens of meetings with department heads since he became the county administrator in June. That work included eliminating positions where funding had been carried over from year to year even though they were never filled, he said.
Capital improvements was another area where belt tightening occurred. “We then worked with individual departments about capital improvements and when they need to occur,” he said. “We did our best to balance the needs of departments and the current uncertainty over not knowing the impact COVID will have on the county and the local economy.”
“There will be items that are unavoidable and have to be funded such as with law enforcement where items have to be addressed immediately,” he added. “But some of the wants can be pushed out to future years.”
He noted that department heads offered little push back in the development of this budget. “We haven’t seen a major push back from the staff, they realize what the situation is,” he said.
The 2021 budget for all county departments calls for revenue of just over $165 million and expenditures of over $175 million. The $10 million shortfall will be covered by the county’s reserves. The county’s reserves totaled over $110 million at the start of 2020.
The general fund alone is expected to see revenue of $54.8 million in 2021 and expenditures of $54.88 million. Those numbers are down from the current year’s budget and similar to the 2019 year.
The new budget reflects county employment of 789.4 full-time employees which is 14.4 more positions than this year. That increase is due primarily to the Berrien County Health Department adding workers to handle the pandemic.
A number of commissioners commented on the budget situation before approving it at last week’s county board meeting.
“I have a word of caution as we’re moving forward to 2021 and 2022,” Commissioner Teri Freehling said. “2020 was a year that tested all our resolve with the pandemic and leadership changes.”
“Looking forward, forecasting is never certain but I can say with confidence that 2021 and 2022 will be challenging with revenue uncertain,” she added. “I ask people to remember going forward that we will be asked to be very nimble in how we’re handling budget, sharpen our pencils and be diligent.”
“We’re using some of the fund balance to balance the budget, I hope won’t have to dip any more into balance,” she said. “I will support it, but we have to remember that it is a living document that can be adjusted.”
Commissioner Jim Curran agreed. “I want to echo Commissioner Freehling,” he said. “We should look at the 2021 budget as out of the norm. boiI also intend to support it but we can’t do this every year. I ask Brian and the staff to stay vigilant.”
County board vice-chairman Ezra Scott noted that he was the only commissioner to vote against the budget last year because it wasn’t balanced. “Now that COVID has hit, we are in difficult times and unprecedented times,” he said.
Although he voted to approve the new budget, he said he remains concerned that the board stays vigilant in its fiscal management of taxpayer dollars by keeping spending in line with revenue. He noted that state revenue sharing will very likely be cut and the county has already seen a decrease in casino revenue from the Pokagon Band.
“The state has a $2.6 billion deficit and it’s not going to get any better,” he said. “Right now it’s being supplemented with CARES act money, but given the volatility of Washington, DC, we can’t count on any other funding coming out of Washington.”
“This is tugging at my heart strings, I want to support this budget and I will support this, but moving forward we have to consider that we have county to run and services to provide taxpayers,” he added. “There could be a time where we have to cut back on capital projects and some of the wish lists.”
“With balancing the budget using our reserves. my point has always been that if don’t have reserves what will we do?” he said. “I don’t want to discuss cutbacks, but we can get through lean times by working within the different departments. If we’re taking from Peter to pay Paul, it’s not truly a balanced budget.”
People can find a copy of the county’s 2021 budget on the county’s website at http://www.berriencounty.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/542
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.