Upcoming Fiscal Year will be the Toughest Yet

July marks the beginning of a new Fiscal year for the Jackson County Fiscal Court and County government. We operate on a budget that runs from July 1st through June 30th. We normally don't try to start any projects until we start receiving revenue. That generally comes around July 31st or later. I anticipate this year to be one of the toughest of my tenure. For example, we received the bill last week for our general liability insurance. That bill is $292,000 and some change. That's a $60,000 increase from last year. Our workman's comp insurance will be $110,000 this year which is up from $70,000 last year. We are looking at a $100,000 increase in insurance alone. Road funding didn't see an increase this year but maintenance costs have increased significantly. We need to replace our mowing tractors. We have had multiple issues with keeping them running this year. The only way to do that is to use road money because it will take all our general fund money just to operate. General fund is depended upon by many parts of the county government. For example, Jail operation costs are up so the general fund will have to help sustain it, we have 2 courthouses to maintain that need repairs in many places, CSEPP is coming to an end so 911 will need increased funding due to losing that revenue and the list goes on. I by no means can tell you that I have the answers to the problems we are facing. I do know that we have some very tough decisions ahead of us. That is the purpose of these articles. I want to keep our citizens informed as best I can of what we have going on and what challenges we are facing.

I hope you and your family had a wonderful Independence Day holiday. I have seen many still celebrating our freedom we have in America. Jackson County is a patriotic place and I am proud to call it home.

Have a blessed week.