CAPE COUNTY BUDGET PROCESS IS MOVING AHEAD

JACKSON - Most of the 34 county departments or agencies that are part of Cape Girardeau County's annual budget have submitted their requests for 1994.

During early December, the county commission will be carefully scrutinizing those requests, including a plan to upgrade the county's computer system.

"I think the commission is planning to get real serious on the budget the week of Dec. 6 and hope to have it officially approved before the end of the year," said Auditor H. Weldon Macke, who has a key role in the annual process.

As auditor, Macke sends out budget request forms around mid-October to county departments and agencies, which includes information about what was included in the current year's budget and how much has been spent.

Generally, the county spends around 90 percent of what is budgeted, although that varies by a few percentage points from year to year.

When the request forms are turned back in, Macke totals the requests and presents them to the county commission for its review.

Then, while the commissioners begin developing the expenditure side of the budget, Macke works to draw up the revenue side. That includes projected revenue from the property tax, fees, and the county's share of state and federal gas taxes for the road and bridge fund, as well as projections of income from the county's half-cent sales tax and fees that make up the income side of the general fund budget.

Over the last few years, income projections from the sales tax have been at zero or shown very small growth. But after a growth of just over 5 percent last year and expected growth of around 9 percent this year, projections may be more optimistic for the 1994 budget than in recent years.

For 1993, Cape County's general revenue budget is about $5.7 million, while the road and bridge budget is about $1.7 million.

Macke said requests for the general budget are just over $6 million for 1994. After the commission adds its scrutiny, he is anticipating a budget close to last year's.

"We're in the same neighborhood as we were last year," said Macke. "We have been talking about trying to upgrade our computer system and, if we do that, there will be quite a bit of new equipment in the budget."

Macke explained that several county officeholders want to upgrade their computer systems to take advantage of new technology.

"We may try to upgrade the entire system; a lot of new things have come onto the market we might want to take advantage of," said Macke.

The new system could cost up to $500,000, which means it might be phased in over several years. The auditor said the various officeholders will likely meet with the commission to discuss the issue.

Salaries, which were once an item for debate at budget time, have not been an issue since the county went to a pay classification system three years ago that outlines salary schedules for county employees.

There will also be a line item in the budget this year to help pay the county's share of a seven-county Solid Waste Management District, which is being formed to comply with new state and federal laws designed to reduce reliance on landfills.

"There will be some money in the budget for that, but at this point we really don't know what it will take," said Macke. "That could be a potentially big dollar item in future years if we don't keep a close watch on it."

Macke said the commission will conduct hearings with officeholders and department heads over requests they feel are excessive or for which they want clarification.

Overall, Macke said most requests this year appear to be reasonable. A decision on the new computers, which has been under study for some time, will likely be the major focus of budget deliberations this year.

Once the budget is completed, state law requires that a public hearing be held before approval is given. A public hearing will probably be scheduled on Dec. 27 or 30, Macke said.

A 1994 budget must be approved before the county can pay any bills next year. In recent years, the Cape County Commission has finalized its budget before the end of the year.