County audit shows strong financial outlook
Greenwood County ended the 2017-18 year on a strong financial note, adding nearly $1 million to its fund balance, while grappling with rising state health insurance and retirement costs.
Putting $819,000 more into the coffers, County Manager Toby Chappell said, boosts the rainy day account to 4.4 months worth of operating costs — more than double the 2 percent standard.
“All the while, we have continued to address capital needs. For example, roofs, HVAC units, a new county website and vehicles,” Chappell said. “With the recent departure of the treasurer, we will have to go through the selection process for a new treasurer. Anytime you bring in someone new for such a vital role it is concerning. I do not have any concerns about the financial health of the county, our bonded debt is zero, we have a capital project sales tax in place to address new capital needs, our fund balance is robust, and the foundation of our economic base is diversified; these are all signs of healthy finances.”
Josh Garvin, of Manley Garvin LLC, presented county leaders on Tuesday its comprehensive annual financial report for the year that began July 1, 2017 and ended on June 30.
Last month, Chappell said officials are working on a plan to modernize the county’s retiree health insurance plan — a policy that’s been in place since 1997 and currently pays out roughly $500,000 annually.
In 1999, the council voted to amend its policy, agreeing to pay out retirement benefits after an employee turned 65 based on their years of service.
Language in the 1997 motion set county-covered premiums at between 50 and 100 percent based on years of service for retired workers. It was not retroactive.
A driver for that decision, Chappell said, is the nearly $30 million in future liability to the county for post-employment benefit pay.
“The continued increases in state health insurance and state retirement are now and each year become bigger driving factors in our budgets. We are in the middle of multi-year increases to the county portion of the retirement system that are due to poor decisions made in Columbia,” Chappell said. “This reality is the reason that the county has begun discussions about addressing this significant liability, especially on the health insurance side. If we are not able to address this liability now, current and future employees will be harmed in order to pay for the benefits of retirees.”
Also last year, the county agreed to $6.6 million worth of tax abatements for business recruitment and retention.
Chappell said officials are strategic in deciding which projects are worthy of such perks.
“There may be firmly held views on whether the county should or should not offer tax incentives to companies, and reasonable people can disagree on this issue. However, what is not in dispute is the fact that Greenwood County is strongest when we have a diversified economic base, which includes industrial, commercial, and residential ventures,” Chappell said.
“In order to be competitive, and we have likely been competitive when our size and other factors would indicate that we shouldn’t be, we have to offer economic development incentives. If the county took the position that we would not offer incentives the industrial base in Greenwood County would not be present as it is today.”
Originally Published by Index-Journal on:Feb 10, 2019
By ADAM BENSON abenson@indexjournal.com
Article Link: https://www.indexjournal.com/news/county-audit-shows-strong-financial-outlook/article_befe58fc-a7e4-571a-bc71-1ffe5dff51a4.html