2011 budget summary - St. Louis County

EXECUTIVE SUMMARYresidents’ lives though responsible and effectivemanagement of resources. Focusing on its coremission, the department concentrates onminimizing operating costs including utility,fleet, and maintenance costs.The department provides for the generalmaintenance and upkeep of 69 park sitesincluding the 3 parks that are leased to otheragencies and therefore not maintained by theCounty. The 12,690 acre parks system includestrails, roadways, buildings, and other parkfacilities.The department is also responsible for theacquisition, development, management,programming and interpretation of the parksand historic sites. The department offers over800 programs and events each year. The MetroParks budget has been listed independentlybecause the goal is to direct these fundsprimarily for capital repair, renovation, andreplacement in order to deliver enhancedfacilities and services to the public.Museum of TransportationThe 2011 budget for the department is$25,950,318, a decrease of $422,031 or 1.6%.Reductions include filling vacant positions atlower hourly rates, budgeting for lower fuelcosts, reducing funding for maintenance andconstruction activities, and defunding 6positions. These savings are partially offset byincreases in overhead and utility charges, andreplacement of capital equipment.SPECIAL REVENUE FUNDSAssesssment33%All Other16%2011 BudgetSpecial Revenue FundsEmergencyComm.14%Conv. &Rec. Trust25%WaterServiceLine12%‣ ASSESSMENT FUND (5570)The Division of Assessment within theDepartment of Revenue is responsible forproviding a complete property characteristicinventory for all real and personal property inSt. Louis County. All properties must be valuedin a fair, accurate, and equitable manner usingstandard industry techniques. Assessment rollsmust be produced annually per statutorydeadlines. The Assessor must defend allassessments that have been appealed to theBoard of Equalization and the Missouri StateTax Commission. As part of the AssessmentMaintenance Plan, appraisal personnel arerequired to review every parcel of real propertyover a six‐year period. Personal property mustbe valued annually. The Assessor and staffreview and inspect all properties for which arequest for exemption has been made.The Assessment Fund is supported by a perparcelreimbursement from the State ofMissouri and a ½ of 1% tax collection fee.The 2011 budget for the Assessment Fund is$12,148,293, a decrease of $728,604 or 5.7%.- 44 -