Even though I was not appointed to the HRFC (HR Finance and Property Committee), I often attend the HRFC committee meetings and spend a significant amount of time studying and reviewing the County’s finances. Since the County has been unable to produce detailed monthly Financial Statements due to outdated accounting software1, I have also been reviewing the County’s audited annual Financial Statements.
While reviewing the 2022 Financial Statements, I discovered that the Social Improvement Fund Balance (similar to a savings account) had grown by over $9,000,000 in the last 3 years after staying stable at about $4,000,000 for the previous 10 years.
On September 2, 2023, I sent the following email to HRFC Committee Chair John Robinson and HHS (Health and Human Services) Acting Chair Jennifer Aarrestad.
A: Was the increase in the Social Improvement Fund Balance a result of a policy change by the Board or simply the result of good stewardship on the part of County Staff and Administration?
B: The Social Improvement Fund Balance is classified as restricted. Are the funds restricted to use by the Social Services Department or are there additional restrictions on their use? Is there an intended use for these funds?
C: Would it be prudent and reasonable to reduce the tax levy allocation to the Social Service Department for the next few years to free up funds for the repayment of our short term agreed upon portion of NCHC’s debt?
I realize that this would be contrary to the County’s 2023 “Budget Priorities and Guidelines”, but I expect that most Supervisors were not aware of the recent increase in the Social Improvement Fund Balance at the time of the vote on the Budget Guidelines.
To summarize the general responses, which were provided over the course of several meetings and during individual discussions: A) It was stated that the increase was not intentional and that County staff were unaware of the increase, B) It was stated that there is approximately $6,000,000 in the Fund Balance that is unrestricted, and C) many in leadership positions would apparently prefer to raise taxes to pay for the NCHC debt and use the excess fund balance for future CIP projects. (Capital Improvement Projects).
DIG DEEPER
The following video provides a response to my statement regarding the Social Improvement Fund Balance at a recent HRFC meeting. It is unfortunate that the video recording doesn’t start until nearly the end of my comments, with the result being that viewers can not view my comments and judge if Chair Gibb’s response is reflective of my actual comments.
- Marathon County is currently implementing a new Workday accounting and ERP system, which will hopefully allow for regular monthly financial statements in the near future. County staff were able to provide detailed financial statements to each Standing Committee in October, which was extremely helpful and very much appreciated. ↩︎