County introduces $73 million spending plan

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By ELENA GRIMM SYCAMORE — A $73 million spending plan was introduced to a county finance committee during one of the first stages of the budget approval process for DeKalb County’s Fiscal Year 2009, which begins Jan. 1, 2009. The $72,622,500 budget — up from $69 million in FY 2008 — is balanced evenly between revenues and expenses, said Deputy County Administrator Gary Hanson. The largest expenditures are nearly $35 million in salaries and benefits and just over $25 million in commodities and services. The finance committee reviewed the budget recommendations Sept. 3 and forwarded a request to the county board to place the proposal on file for public inspection. The county board is scheduled to discuss the budget at its September meeting, with a goal of adopting the budget in mid-November, Hanson said. Public hearings will be held before the final approval. Some of the budget highlights include a projected increase in property value to generate more taxing revenue, personnel additions in several departments and a $1.1 million allocation toward a new criminal justice building fund. The Equalized Assessed Value for the county is expected to increase by over 5.5 percent to $2.2 billion. The EAV includes about $45 million in new construction. The 2.2 percent EAV increase in new construction is projected to be less than the past four years, Hanson said. New positions that have been recommended include a financial scams detective, an adult probation officer for the drug court, an assistant network technician for the Information Management Office, a corrections officer, a finance clerical support staff and a part-time public defender. Setting aside money for a new jail and court departments is recommended to continue in 2009 for the third straight year. During 2009, $1.1 million is proposed for allocation to the jail fund, which would double the total savings.