The chairman explains “fund-based budgeting”
In his newsletter, Chairman Matthew Durham of Oconee County Council gives an explanation of the changing county budget. The council Tuesday gave first reading to what’s called budget amendment #1. Durham says, “Since June 6th, a lot of hard work has gone into developing a budget amendment that serves the people of this county well. The amended budget comes in at $64.4 million (well-below population + inflation), however, you will not see that number anywhere in the budget as we are changing the way we do business by switching to a more fund-based accounting practice. We are moving non-operating expenses, such as one-time capital expenses, out of the operating budget and into designated millage funds. With the creation of designated millage accounts, the new general fund budget is $58,837,233. If we did not switch to fund-based budgeting the amended budget would come in at $64.4 million, which again is well below population + inflation growth and less than the original proposed operating budgets of $67 million and $65.2 million.”