Biennial Budget 2 0 0 9 - 2 0 1 0 - Cobb County Government

The Bottom Line
General Fund
FUND STRUCTURE
The General Fund is a Governmental Fund which contains the operating budgets for
departments that provide general purpose government services to the citizens of Cobb
County. This fund includes the budgets for a myriad of county services including
police, sheriff, library, parks and road maintenance. The primary revenue category,
General Property Taxes, makes up 54% of the total budgeted revenue for FY 09/10.
The Personal Services component of the budget, which consists of employee salaries
and benefits, is 67% of the total budgeted expenditures for the two-year period.
ISSUES & TRENDS
The General Fund is the county’s largest operating fund and contains the budgets for
most of the county’s departments and agencies. The FY 09 Adopted Budget reflects
an increase of $11.8 Million or .52% over the FY 08 Adopted Budget. The Adopted
Budget for FY 10 only increases .21% over FY 09, or $11.2 million.
Within the expenditure categories of the General Fund, the Personal Services budget
will increase $15.2 million in FY 09 and $8.7 million in FY 10, or 7% and .7%
respectively. These increases are a result of the full-year impact of FY 08 merit pay,
new positions, and the increased cost of benefits to include the impact of funding the
county’s medical liability for future retirees.
The Contingency category decreases by $.7 million in FY 09, and $75thousand in
FY 10. The FY 09 Contingency budget contains funding for several new full time
positions to include thirty-four for the Sheriff, two for Information Services, one for
the Solicitor, four for the Tax Commissioner, one for the Medical Examiner, and five
Police Officers for the Police Department.
FY 09/10 Contingency budget includes personnel improvements including merit and
sick pay buy back, operating expenses for the new satellite tag office, County
Manager’s capital contingency, Death Penalty, Public Safety Reward Fund, Family
Fun Day, Elections & Registration designated for runoffs, and drug court for Superior
Court.
Together, the overall Operating, Debt Service and Capital categories within the
General Fund increase by only $2 million in FY 09, and then increased by only $1.9
million in FY 10. Restraining the growth in these categories helps to offset the larger
increases in Personal Services and Contingency.
FY 09/10 BIENNIAL BUDGET
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