Commissioners Officially Adopt Fiscal Year 2011 County Budget
Posted on 08-20-2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 20, 2010 |
Contact: Jessica Donald
Communications Specialist
208-287-6998
jdonald@adaweb.net |
Commissioners Officially Adopt Fiscal Year 2011 County Budget
No Property Tax Increase for Fifth Consecutive Year
(Boise, ID) – On Tuesday, August 17th, the Board of Ada County Commissioners officially adopted the County’s Fiscal Year 2010-11 proposed budget.
After a series of budget workshops with a public budget hearing and comment period, Commissioners have adopted the FY11 County budget while sticking firmly to their commitment to hold the line on property taxes. Ada County’s total FY11 budget amounts to $174,359,487. With no increase in taxes for County levy funds, this marks the fifth consecutive year of no property tax increase for Ada County. This means the same amount of property taxes levied in FY10 will be levied in FY11 to support County operations funded within the 3% levy cap, which accounts for $81,688,522 of property taxes. While this budget does show an increase of $3.3 million over last year’s, a surge in Indigent Services medical claims the County is required to pay under state law are a major component of that, with other unfunded state mandates accounting for a portion of the change as well.
For the first time, Commissioners have also chosen not to levy an amount allowed under state law for newly constructed properties never before appearing on the property tax roll. However, moving forward, owners of these new properties will pay the same tax levy rate as all other Ada County property owners. This action by the Board, coupled with not levying for the allowed 3% property tax increase, leaves $3,426,571 in forgone taxes for FY11 alone. The cumulative savings to taxpayers from Commissioners not levying for the allowed tax increase for the past five years, amounts to $41,849,174.
“Instead of taking the allowed 3% tax increase each year, we have left tens of millions of dollars in the pockets of taxpayers during these tough times,” said Ada County Commissioner Rick Yzaguirre. “This is the cumulative effect of five years of deciding not to take more money from taxpayers to fill County funding gaps.”
“We have taken a very conservative approach to budgeting, and it is paying off for taxpayers,” said Ada County Commissioner Sharon Ullman. “This is a time when many people and families are struggling to make ends meet. When the public feels pain, government needs to feel it as well.”
“Building a balanced budget allows us to continue to provide essential County services to residents, without shifting more of the burden to taxpayers,” said Ada County Commission Chairman Fred Tilman. “We’ve accomplished this task for five consecutive years with no increase to property taxes.”
Commissioners will approve and set levies on Monday, September 13th.
The FY11 adopted budget is now available via Ada County’s Website at www.adaweb.net, or by clicking below.
Click Here for Ada County’s FY 2010-11 Budget