Butler County: Budget Shortfall?

Cox Newspapers brave reporterette Jessica Lander-Heffner has a stunner of a report that indicates that slow retail sales might cut the budget in Butler County.

A 4 percent decrease this year in retail sales across Butler County could affect the county's budget, which figures sales tax into 32 percent of its general fund.

Butler County commissioners told business leaders attending the county Chamber Caucus in Hamilton on Friday, May 9, that although new retail stores like IKEA are expected to bring millions of dollars in sales tax to the county coffers, residents have not been buying as much as anticipated this year.

One of you smart guy readers can correct me if I'm wrong, but people are going to be paying this tax whether they are a resident of the county or not... If you shop in Butler County, you are going to be contributing. Anyway...let's get to the real issue, which is this:

Commissioner Greg Jolivette said the county anticipates 3 percent growth in sales tax every year when it figures its budget. So far, it hasn't been produced, with March and April figures showing the area is 4 percent behind from where it should be at this point in 2008.

Jolivette said the county is hoping for a pick up in sales this month.

"May figures will let us know how the year ahead will play out," he said.

I sure hope that there is a contigency plan...because this doesn't sound all that good. Maybe instead of building new animal shelters and building for the board of elections, we should have saved some of that dough for a rainy day like today... I'm just putting it out there...

Quoth Commissioner Don Dixon:

However, Commissioner Don Dixon said due to current economic trends, he does not expect sales to increase and the county should adjust accordingly.

"We have to get our own fiscal house in order and we can't depend on sales tax to carry our budget," he said.

Dixon said he foresees sales dropping dramatically, much like the current housing market, and it would be prudent for the county to find other ways to supplement its budget than through sales tax.

"We need to reduce the size of county government to create enough reserve to carry us through some difficult times."

Boy was I ever wrong about Don Dixon. Dixon has quickly become the voice reason and sanity in these troubled times. And he is absolutely correct: we need to get efficient and place a much more watchful eye on county spending.

I want to draw to things out... Commissioner Jolivette says that the county anticipates a 3% increase every year, but Jessica is reporting a 4% decrease in retail sales. If I've done my math right, that's 7% that we're missing from a budget item that represents 32% of the entire budget. I have no idea what that is in real money, but it certainly sounds like a developing situation that ought to be addressed. I'm sure that the commissioners are up to the task, but we need to be kept appraised of this situation so we aren't taken by surprise down the road.