Lewis, Hooper & Dick, LLC, owners Theresa Dasenbrock and Kristin Sekavec presented the audit to commissioners, who accepted it at their meeting. The county’s general fund revenue and expenditures dropped significantly from the previous year, with 2017 revenue totals equaling $8,691,619, compared to 2016′s $15,643,831. Expenditures in 2017 added up to $9,535,250, compared to 2016′s $15,499,749.
Dasenbrock said the change was due to the sheriff’s office moving out of the general fund and into a separate fund, a move made to keep accounting separate under a tax lid that has an exception for emergency services. The move caused several million dollars in tax receipts and public safety expenses to be filed under the sheriff’s office fund instead of the general fund.
Regardless of the change, the county’s expenditures surpassed its revenue by $843,631. The deficit remains despite the county spending over $400,000 less and earning over $1.2 million more than was budgeted. Partington said the county expected and planned for general fund revenue to come in under expenditures in 2017, and would offset the shortage with unencumbered cash from the end of the previous year. The county often feeds prior years’ cash into the next year’s budget so residents are not overtaxed, he said.
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(Read more: News – The Garden City Telegram)