ST. CLAIRSVILLE — The Belmont County Board of Commissioners passed an estimated $22 million budget for 2022 on Wednesday and will refine it through fall.
“It takes roughly $22 million a year to operate Belmont County,” Commissioner Jerry Echemann said, adding this was a ‘ballpark figure’ but likely close to the final number.
The number going into 2021 was $22,800,000.
“We were very concerned when the pandemic struck. We thought there would be a lot of bad news. We thought there might be layoffs. We thought the sales tax would dip so low we’d have trouble making ends meet in Belmont County. None of that really happened. It wasn’t easy, but we came through it pretty well from a financial standpoint. Some of this had to do with government intervention that took place,” Echemann said.
The department heads submitted their estimated needs for 2022, subject to review likely beginning in fall.
Law enforcement remains the largest expense, with about $1 million more requested than in the past. In prior years, other departments have had their budgets cut to provide additional money for the sheriff’s office to operate.
“The sheriff asked for about $7 million,” Echemann said.
The county is also considering long-term projects such as an expansion of the often-crowded jail.
“It’s pretty hard in this day and age to cut the sheriff’s department when you’ve got more inmates coming in. Now the overall budget could possibly see a slight decrease. We’ve done that before,” Echemann said. “But in terms of the sheriff, I think he’ll be looking at some kind of increase. I think he got around $6 million last year.”
Echemann said major projects such as a jail expansion and possibly a new building for the health department likely mean the county will borrow funds. Another possible future expense is a new location for the records center.
“We’re not in fantastic shape, but we’re certainly not in bad shape,” Echemann said.
The budget does not take into account funds from the American Rescue Plan, since this will be in a separate line item and restrictions mean this money cannot be used for general purposes. The budget is tentative and subject to change.
“It’s a preview of the upcoming year,” Commissioner Josh Meyer said. “It’s kind of early to see and know exactly what we’re going to have.”
The commissioners said they will continue to aim at crafting a conservative budget.
“It allowed us to be in slightly good shape, despite what took place last year, so we’re optimistic about 2022 moving forward,” Meyers said.
They commended the commissioners’ staff for their work assembling the budget.
Auditor Cindi Henry said her estimated revenue for 2021 was about $5 million less than 2020.
“Which doesn’t mean a lot, because 2020’s was inflated by about $2.5 million of CARES Act money that got put in the general fund,” she said. “Estimating for next year it’s about $26 million, which if you go back two years, pre-pandemic, that’s about a $3 million difference. But my estimate from this year to next year, it’s only $1 million difference. Again, the CARES Act money skewed all those numbers.
“I think we’re sitting fine. The sales tax is holding its own. We didn’t lose that much in sales tax like everybody thought we would back in 2019, and in 2020 and 2021 it’s rebounding. I think by the end of the year we’ll be right back where we were prior to the pandemic.”
Henry said the commissioners were able to spend all of their CARES Act funding in the last cycle despite restrictions. County leaders are setting priorities for American Rescue Plan funding.
“We have been awarded $13 million-plus, of which we’ve received $6.5 million of it. … They have until 2024 to spend it,” she said. “(The commissioners) have not indicated to me what they intend to spend it on.”
Henry said this is separate from the townships and municipalities that will receive funding through the state.
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