-David Crowder, WRGA News-
The Floyd County Commission has approved a resolution authorizing the issuance and sale of an $8.1 million tax anticipation note.
According to Floyd County Manager Jamie McCord, the money will give the county some cash flow and serve as a bridge until property tax revenue starts rolling in this fall.
“We have about $19 million available in fund balance, and we utilize those ones throughout the year,” he said. “We do borrow from other funds where we’re allowed to, but because we have rolled back taxes and utilized use of fund balance in three of the last four years, we are still short on cash when it comes to cash and county operations. So, it’s not like a savings account, sitting liquid and you go to it when you need it, it is an operational account that decreases from January one throughout the year.”
The county, like everyone else, is dealing with rising insurance costs.
According to McCord, the county is self-insured.
“Cigna is the administrator of our plan, but we actually pay health insurance claims,” he added. “We budget for and pay for those claims. Cigna actually does our negotiation with the hospitals and the pharmacies and whatnot. We also have a health clinic through Atrium Health Floyd to try and eliminate emergency room visits and doctor visits that are not necessary. However, we do want people going to the doctor, but we have to make up for those shortfalls, and we were $900,000 in claims over and above our budget in June.”
According to McCord, the county put $1.6 million back into the fund balance last year, but overall it remains the same.
The county carries a fund balance of about 20-percent, when it should ideally be around 25 percent.
McCord said the lower fund balance helps keep money in the pockets of the taxpayer.
