Dutchess County’s financial picture improves

POUGHKEEPSIE – Dutchess County Government ended 2014 with an unaudited general fund balance of $39.9 million, an increase of $13.6 million over the 2013 final year end audited fund balance of $26.3 million.  The county ended 2014 with a surplus of $18.7 million in revenues over expenditures.
The county’s top two finance officials, Finance Commissioner Heidi Seelbach and Budget Director Valerie Sommerville, released a report on Friday also noting the gross sales tax revenue increased by $9.4 million.
“Our efforts to craft sustainable budgets that did not rely on a significant application of fund balance have allowed us to stabilize our fiscal reserves,” they wrote in a memo dated May 1.
They said county government “continues to demonstrate very strong credit worthiness” as confirmed by Standard and Poors Rating Services’ AA+ bond rating last October, an upgrade from Moody’s Investor Services rating in November 2013 of Aa1. But, they noted “we need to remain vigilant to maintain reserves to withstand the impact of continued costs for state mandates, fuel costs to operate our county fleet, utilities for our buildings, contractual obligations required by our labor agreements, debt service to maintain the county’s assets and infrastructure and other future economic challenges.”
County Executive Marcus Molinaro said the county’s fiscal condition “continues to steadily improve.” In his own memo, he wrote that when he came into office in 2012, the county’s fund balance was less than two percent of budget, there were three unsettled union contracts, insufficient space for jail inmates, a multi-million dollar taxpayer subsidy for the Resource Recovery Agency and rising costs related to state mandates.
“Together we worked to address these challenges and thanks to the policies we developed we have transformed how county government functions,” Molinaro said.
County Legislature Chairman Robert Rolison credited the improved fiscal picture as “a direct result of the leadership from the top and the transformational vision County Executive Marcus Molinaro has brought to local government.”
Legislative Budget Committee Chairman Dale Borchert said the county is in “its best financial shape in years.”