Mt. Vernon Register-News

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February 18, 2010

Jefferson Co. owed $1.4M in funds

By RORYE O’CONNOR

rorye.oconnor@register-news.com

MT. VERNON — Jefferson County currently is owed more than $1.4 million from state sources, grants and taxes.

“That’s a lot of money to be owed,” said Fiscal Committee chair Steve Langa.

Jefferson County Fiscal Committee members estimated their accounts receivable would cover approximately eight payrolls, the County Board’s number one priority as defined by a resolution at last month’s regular board meeting.

Jefferson County is waiting on $501,186.52 from the state in probation reimbursement, or bills from August through January, according to documents provided by Jefferson County Treasurer Debbie Elliott Marlow. Both the Supervisor of Assessment and State’s Attorney salaries are owed from June through January, with a total of nearly $120,000.

The county did receive two payments of taxes Feb. 10. The quarter-percent sales tax, a total of $97,418.77, and the state sales tax, $51,007.40, were received.

In the light of the state’s continued budgetary issues, the Fiscal Committee continued to consider various emergency options in case of another situation in which the board would be unable to cover payroll.

“We’re doing better, but we still need something in case we need money today,” said Jefferson County Board Chairman Ted Buck.

One option on the committee’s agenda was the possibility of a debt certificate. Buck suggested to the committee that they consider the idea of the certificate, which is like a loan taken out against county assets.

“We’ve been using loans, that I know of, since 2003,” Buck said. “It worked.”

In other business, the committee:

Made a motion to recommend to the full board to set a repayment schedule of $20,000 a month to the Tax Protest Fund, at the discretion of County Board Chair Ted Buck, based on the financial condition of the county each month. The Tax Protest Fund, from which the board borrowed $329,603.08 in January, must be paid back by the end of the year;

Made a motion to recommend to the full board to abate the property tax through bond payments and pay with the Public Safety Tax, and;

Made motions to recommend to the full board to approve the audit of claims, the payroll distribution reports and the pre-paid claims.

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