Supervisors get look at finalized budget

LEE COUNTY – Lee County Supervisors will get a look at initial combined budget numbers at Monday’s regular board meeting.
On the agenda is a $43.4 million budget with about $3.6 million in deficit spending that will eat into the combined fund balance, taking it to $10.5 million by the end of June 2025.
Lee County Supervisor Matt Pflug said last week that the county doesn’t even want to go below $3.5 million in the general basic fund to protect against emergencies. The county is projected to run the general fund balance to $3.47 million by the end of June 2025.
The general supplemental fund is also planned to run in deficit spending. That fund typically pays for employee benefits and shows $6.24 million in spending against $5.98 million in revenues.
The county is projecting revenues of $18.6 million compared to $19.5 million in re-estimated general fund 2024 numbers. Expenses in the fund are projected to drop just $222,000 in the coming fiscal year.
Budget director Cindy Renstrom is showing the county ending the fiscal year on June 30 of this year at just over $14 million. That number compares to $18.5 million to start the current fiscal year on July 1, 2023.
The board will just be reviewing the budget numbers with Renstrom. No action is listed on the agenda.
Property tax numbers show a decrease of .58 cents at 12.95/$1,000 of assessed valuation after state mandated rollbacks on assessments. That includes a $5.08 general fund levy, which, according to current state regulations, must be at $3.50 by the start of the 2029 fiscal year.
The Emergency Management fund has a 76.7 cent levy and the pioneer cemetery levy is set at 2 cents. The general supplemental levy is $3.43 which represents a 13-cent increase over current fiscal year numbers. The special EMS levy of 75 cents and the debt service of levy of 63 cents per $1,000, combined with the rural basic levy of $2.27, bring the total to $12.95.  That number is the second-highest in the past seven years with the current total levy of $13.53, the highest in the past seven years.
In an unrelated issue, the county will also consider changes to the county’s dust control policy. Residents have put up opposition to recently implemented dust control fees that are assessed when residents file for a permit for private dust control applications.
Other agenda items include a discussion with the library association, purchase of two dump trucks, and discussion of mandatory tax mailings outlining school, city, and county tax information.