CC budget committee axes ARPA allocations

The Budget Committee of the Chester County Commission met Monday night to further discuss the county’s 2024 operating budget. This is the third time in as many weeks that a packed courtroom attended these controversial meetings.
At the center of the debate is the $3.3 million from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds the county received last year. ARPA funding was allocated to all cities and counties in the country. These funds are for state and local governments to make strategic investments in long-lived assets, to rebuild reserves to enhance financial stability, and cover temporary operating shortfalls until economic conditions and operations normalize.
One of the allocations the county commission approved last November was the construction of a new Election Commission facility for $1.3 million. The project stalled when County Mayor Barry Hutcherson refused to sign the construction contract, saying it was too much of a burden on the taxpayers. The commission approved the expenditure last November by a 11-5 vote.
Audience members voiced their opinions about the need for a new election commission building and why the hefty price tag was approved when the county is facing such a budget deficit of $1.8 million that most likely would result in a property tax increase. The county has not increased property taxes in the last 10 years.
Other organizations in line to receive these ARPA funds are the library, Dixie Youth, the Carl Perkins Center for the Prevention of Child Abuse, the county sheriff’s department, county fire department, county highway department and health department.
Gary Irwin, the Director of Accounting and Budgets for the county, has presented a half dozen different versions of the budget, but they all come out the same, a deficit of $1.8 million. The differences in those he presented have to do with the amount of the fund balance at the end of 2024. State law mandates that all counties must have a fund balance to cover any budget deficit.
Committee members voted at Monday night’s meeting to pull some of the ARPA funding to put this money into the 2024 budget that would increase the county’s fund balance to approximately $3 million.
They agreed to pull back the funding from the election commission, $1.232,900; the library, $600,000; the STEMC/Aeneas Internet project, $144,000; and $250,000 that was allocated to the local 4-H program for improvements to the old fairground’s property on Memorial Drive. This money came from a Governor’s grant and can be spent on any item the county sees fit and will be added to the budget.
The ARPA funding was left in place for the Carl Perkins Center and the public safety allocation.
Irwin said that the state will allow counties to operate with a deficit budget if they have a fund balance large enough to cover the shortfall. He said this would work for 2024 but the county could not continue to rely on this to make up for future shortfalls.
The 2024 budget contains substantial increase including a $419,000 increase in the cost of the ambulance service to West Tennessee Healthcare and a $255,000 increase in salaries. This includes a 4% cost of living increase for all county employees and a state mandated 5% increase to county officials.
In addition, the committee asked Irwin to email each of the department heads prior to next Monday’s meeting to determine if there were any additional budget cuts that could be made. Once he makes any budget adjustments there, he will include the changes that were approved at the meeting and present it at, yet another, budget committee meeting scheduled for Monday, July 18, at 5:30 p.m. in the courthouse.
Crowe said he hoped the committee would accept the updated budget as one it could send to the full commission for approval. The county must have a budget in place no later than August 31, or the state comptroller’s office will come in and manage the county’s finances.
The committee is made up of one commissioner from each district. It includes Kevin Faulkner, Dwight Bingham, Mike Alexander, Al McKinnon, Johnny Garner and chairman Tim Crowe.