Dutchess County’s financial status continues to improve
Things have been looking up lately as Dutchess County’s Government ended 2014 with an un-audited general fund balance of $39.9 million.
The budget number was a $13.6 million improvement 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.
Sales Tax numbers released Friday Finance by Commissioner Heidi Seelbach and Budget Director Valerie Sommerville showed that gross sales tax revenue increased by $9.4 million in 2014.
In a memo, County Executive Marcus Molinaro stated that the county’s fiscal condition “continues to steadily improve.” Molinaro also stated 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.
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.”
