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Published: 8/5/2010 | Updated: 5/18/2013
By DEBORAH GERTZ HUSAR
Herald-Whig Staff Writer
PITTSFIELD, Ill. -- Midway through the fiscal year, Pike County is right on target with its budget. Finance Committee Chairman Walker Filbert reported Monday that only one line item, health insurance, is "out of whack" in the county's spending plan. Health insurance spending is at 82.8 percent for the year, and "that's going to be a continuing problem for the county," Filbert said. The county's insurance committee will meet July 27 to discuss health insurance premiums and plans for next year, which could include increasing how much employees pay for insurance. The last time an increase was needed, the county split the amount with employees, and that could be an option again this time. "We're going to discuss different options," insurance committee chairman Jim Sheppard said. In the meantime, the county's revenue situation remains solid, with the first installment of property taxes, due July 18, already beginning to be paid. For the second year in a row, Filbert said it's likely the county will not need short-term borrowing to maintain cash flow and, as a result, won't incur interest costs. The budget, adopted in November for the year beginning Dec. 1, called for revenues of $4,446,530 and expenditures of $4,394,027 in the general fund, the county's largest and most active fund. A bump in the county's equalized assessed value helped the financial picture along with savings from a contract with a new electricity provider and cost-conscious office heads. "For the last six months, you've done a great job," Filbert said. Additional revenue, a grant from the Gray Trust, is making a positive difference for the county's animal control efforts. The trust provided $25,000 in 2009 and 2010, $12,500 in 2011 and $30,000 this year, with the bulk of the funding going toward the spay and neuter program. "It works," Animal Warden Debbie Lambeth said. "Most of the dogs we get at the shelter are big dogs, old dogs. We don't get many puppies." Richard Gray, a late farmer from the northern part of the county, established the trust to provide for the care of animals and to prevent cruelty to animals in Pike County. It is administered by a board of directors. This year's funding from the trust also covers some food and medical expenses for animals at the shelter, Lambeth said, and additional help comes from the community. "We've had some very generous Pike County people donate," Lambeth said. -- dhusar@whig.com/221-3379
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