CAPE COUNTY PREPARES ANNUAL BUDGET PROCESS

JACKSON - With the current year winding down, members of the Cape Girardeau County Commission are looking ahead to 1993 and a new budget.

The commission is required to have its budget finished by Jan. 31, however, in recent years the document has been completed in late December or early January.

Presiding Commissioner Gene Huckstep, who is the county's chief budget officer, said he is hoping the budget can be approved before the end of the year, or at least be in its very final stages by then.

As he has in past years, Huckstep has issued warnings to department heads and officeholders to be frugal in their budget requests. In particular, Huckstep is warning that requests for additional personnel and capital expenditures will be carefully scrutinized.

"Cape County is in good financial condition, but we won't stay that way unless we continue to keep a close watch on each and every dollar we spend," said Huckstep.

County Auditor H. Weldon Macke is responsible for getting the budget in shape for the three commissioners to consider. Several weeks ago, Macke sent budget request forms to 34 departments and entities that receive county funds.

Macke has already received 10 budget requests, mostly from smaller departments, and hopes to have them all by Friday so he can get things in order for the commission to review.

Macke will also project revenue for 1993, which will likely include a forecast of 2 percent growth in the sales tax. During 1992, Cape County's sales tax growth has been around 3.5 percent. The current budget is based on no growth.

"I feel we are on the mend as far as the sales tax goes," said Macke.

Cape County's 1992 general revenue budget is about $5.58 million; the road and bridge budget is $1.7 million; and the capital trust account will have close to $3 million in it.

Macke said that while the capital trust account appears to have a large balance, "that could be wiped out overnight" with a major catastrophe that damaged our buildings or roads and bridges.

During 1992 some major repairs were completed on the juvenile detention center, and some offices were shifted between the Cape and Jackson courthouses and the Common Pleas Courthouse Annex.

Work on the juvenile center included a small addition.

The 1992 budget included plans for expanding the county jail to provide eight additional spaces for female prisoners; however, it was never built.

"Right now it appears that with sharing space with other counties, we can work around the jail addition," said Huckstep. "We are playing it by ear, one year at a time. It is just too expensive and hard to justify the cost."

Salaries are another big part of the budget, but after completing a two-year transition last year to a pay classification system, there is little room for discussion on pay raises, say Macke and Huckstep. They point out that the scale calls for increases of around 3 percent, which will likely be closely followed.

That 3 percent will amount to about $60,000, Macke noted.

"There might be a couple of deviations, because we are reviewing any inequities in the salary schedule," said Huckstep. "But we will pretty well stick with the classification schedule."

The two county officials predict major increases in health insurance and workers compensation premiums, which will likely be the major areas of growth in the 1993 budget.

Health insurance will be bid next month. Last year, Macke said the commission budgeted a 20 percent increase and still came up short.

"We still seem to get hammered with medical and workers comp," said Huckstep. "That in itself should force us to be very careful on increasing expenses."

Over the last few years, the county commission has subsidized the road and bridge budget with money from the general fund because the tax levy for that part of the budget generates less than what is being expended.

Last year, Macke noted that about $200,000 from the general fund was used to subsidize the highway department.

In addition, highway department equipment has been purchased from the capital trust account and several bridges have also been funded from the account.