A mid-year look at the Tooele County budget shows expected revenue for the general fund to be 5 percent higher than budgeted last fall.
The Tooele County Commissioners took a look at budget projections during their Aug. 15 meeting and adopted budget revisions for the fiscal year that ends Dec. 31, 2017.
“We budgeted conservatively,” said commission chairman Wade Bitner. “It’s nice to be able to go back and put some things back in the budget that we took out earlier.”
General fund revenue is expected to be about $1.5 million higher than originally budgeted.
The general fund revenue increase is fueled by a $770,000 increase in jail fees, federal Payment in Lieu of Taxes that was $173,253 higher than expected, a $309,324 appropriation from the general fund balance or reserves, and a $105,000 increase in surveyor, recorder and commissary fees.
Prior year tax collections and franchise fees will also be up by $40,000 and the 2017 budget includes a trails grant rollover of $21,000.
The jail fee increase is largely due to a contract to take inmates from Salt Lake County, according to Bitner.
Along with the $770,000 in extra jail fees, jail related expense are expected to increase by $558,000, leaving $212,000 that can be used to offset the costs of the bonds used to build the jail, according to Bitner.
“That was the original plan, to generate revenue through jail fees to offset the capital costs,” he said. “But we may only have that much revenue for two years. That’s how long our agreement with Salt Lake runs.”
Other general fund budget increases include an additional $21,000 for the assessor’s office to help with the implementation of a new property tax computer system that will be used by the recorder, assessor, and auditor’s offices in assessing and collecting property tax.
The surveyor’s budget for professional and technical services will jump by $32,750 to help pay for contracted surveyor’s services to keep with demands of new construction and monument preservation, according to Bitner.
The Emergency Management budget will receive an additional $25,000 as part of a payment for a new uninterruptible power supply for the Emergency Operations Center. The UPS keeps the center’s electronic equipment, including dispatch services, running during short-term power outages.
Revenue for the municipal services fund will be up $923,500 from the original budget, a 1.6 percent increase.
The additional municipal services revenue comes from property tax revenue that is $388,674 over the original budget, an anticipated $355,000 in additional building permit fees, and a $144,596 appropriation from the fund balance.
The municipal services fund revenue also includes a $50,000 grant from Rocky Mountain Power to pay for the development of active transport or non-motorized transportation.
To keep up with the increase in building permits, the engineering department will see a $350,000 increase in the professional and technical services budget to pay for engineering and building inspections.
Other municipal services added to the budget include $320,000 to buy water rights to complete the West Erda Improvement District connection with the Stansbury Park Improvement District.
The municipal services budget also includes $120,000 in Utah Department of Transportation Services Permits. Included in the permit fee budget is an appropriation to pay UDOT for planned upgrades to the connection of Pole Canyon Road to state Route 36 at Mills Junction.
The county commission also approved two capital projects with the budget adjustments. One allocation included $500,000 for the corridor preservation fund for the Midvalley Highway.
The other capital project allocation was $600,000 from the general fund for a water reuse system at Deseret Peak Complex.
The reuse system will allow the county to use treated wastewater from Tooele City for irrigation at Deseret Peak, instead of using culinary water.
“The county is in a stronger financial position because we budget conservatively and have built up the fund balance,” said Commissioner Myron Bateman. “Now we can use some of that money for these projects that need to be completed.”