County manager updates officials on prelim budget

CLOVIS — On Tuesday, County Manager Lance Pyle, gave a presentation to update the commission on the finalized preliminary budget during the County Commission’s regular meeting.

Pyle said the operating budget for fiscal year 2022 is projected to be $45,308,519, up $7,236,554 from last year’s $38,071,965.

Pyle said a large majority of this increase is due to the American Recovery Funds.

The general fund revenues for fiscal year 2021 was $18,839,899, and is projected to be $19,314,747 for 2022, an increase of $474,848, Pyle said.

Current tax collection revenue for 2021 as of April 30 was $7,527,325.40, Pyle said, the projected revenue is $8,866,348, and for 2022 it is $9,080,042.

The projected gross receipts tax revenue for 2021 is projected to be $6,907,841, Pyle said.

For next year it is projected to be $7,515,249, and Pyle noted that this “does not include destination based sourcing, remote and internet sellers, and local compensation tax revenue,” which is projected at $620,478.

Projected expenditures from the general fund for 2021 is $16,672,259, and for 2022 it is $16,439,818, a decrease in expenditures of $232,441, Pyle said.

General fund dollars are transferred to other funds “to support them and make them balanced,” Pyle said.

According to the presentation, the total amount of transfers in 2021 was $3,469,110.32, and the projected transfers for 2022 is $2,874,929, a reduction of $594,181.32.

The total amount of money transferred from the general fund to the road department to “make it self sufficient,” Pyle said, was $8,347,484 since 2017.

Transfers from the general fund to the events center/fairgrounds fund since 2018 totaled $3,220,194, Pyle said.

Included in the total for this year was $400,000 that was transferred to the Courthouse Renovation Fund, Pyle said.

Pyle said there are a total of 178 full-time and 8 part-time county employees for 2021, and three new positions were created.

The new positions include a part-time information technology intern, a DWI Grant Community Program Coordinator, and two Road Department General Maintenance Workers.

The new positions brought a total of three full-time employees and one part-time employee to the county, with an expenditure of $103,019 plus benefits, Pyle said.

The Capital Outlay Budget includes $75,000 for Commission Construction, $62,379 for Commission Renovation and Improvements, $40,000 for Information Technology New Equipment, $247,110 for new equipment for the Road Department, and $175,000 for new equipment, renovations and improvements for the Events Center and Fairgrounds.

Pyle said this was a total of $599,489, which does not include Special Funds such as the Fire Departments, Grants or the Clerks Recording Fund.

The money that will be used to build the new extension building and parking lot, Pyle added, is included in the total operating budget for 2022.