County Reveals Preliminary Operating Budget for 2012

The following release was distributed by the county:

Bucks County Chief Operating Officer Brian Hessenthaler and Finance Director David Boscola presented the county’s preliminary operating budget for 2012 at the .

The proposed budget of $471.4 million represents a 1.7-percent increase over 2011 – the majority of which is attributed to employee-related costs. According to Mr. Boscola, the preliminary budget draft remains a work-in-progress, which will include ongoing scrutiny and input from the Board of Commissioners, administration, courts and row offices.

“This has been the most difficult budget in years,” Mr. Boscola stated. “Due to current economic conditions that the county has tried to weather for a number of years, the county is at a point where we are faced with some very difficult decisions.”

Weighed against revenue projections, the proposed 2012 budget creates a $24.2 million gap. Explaining the reasons for the shortfall, Mr. Boscola attributes them to rising pension and healthcare costs and existing collective bargaining agreements.

“We must stress the fact that this is a ‘preliminary’ budget,” Commissioner Chairman Charles H. Martin stated. “We currently have a deficit in revenues compared to expenditures. We will be working diligently over the next several weeks to reduce that deficit. There are several options available to make that happen.”

Earlier this year, Bucks County had its Aaa bond rating reaffirmed by Moody’s Investors Service. The county will carry over a projected general fund balance of $51.7 million into 2012.

As has been the case with previous budgets, the county’s Health and Human Services Division accounts for the largest portion of the proposed 2012 operating budget, or 45 percent ($214.1 million). Departments comprising public safety account for 31 percent ($145.7 million) percent of the total.

Mr. Boscola noted that the commissioners have multiple alternatives to address the $24.2 million shortfall as they consider adoption of a final budget, which traditionally has occurred during the final Commissioners’ Meeting of the calendar year (Wednesday, December 21, in this case). They include further cuts to expenditures, location of additional sources of revenue, drawing down the county’s general fund balance, raising taxes, or some combination thereof.

Over the next three-and-a-half weeks, the proposed 2012 budget will be carefully analyzed by the Board of Commissioners. That process will include a public budget meeting, during which any interested member of the public will be able to ask questions and offer input about the budget’s content. The public budget meeting will take place at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 6, in the Bucks County Courthouse Community Room (1st Floor).

The 2012 budget includes provisions for departments serving Bucks County residents such as Mental Health/Developmental Programs (MH/DP), Emergency Services, Consumer Protection, Area Agency on Aging (AAA), Health and Emergency Health, General Services, Parks and Recreation, Children & Youth Social Services Agency, Behavioral Health, Veterans Affairs, Corrections and Board of Elections, among others. The budget also provides for courts and elected row offices, including the District Attorney, Clerk of Courts, Sheriff, Prothonotary, Controller, Recorder of Deeds, Register of Wills, Coroner and Treasurer.

To view the 2012 preliminary operating budget, please visit www.BucksCounty.org and click on the budget link on the home page. Stay tuned to the official county website for comprehensive updates about the budget process.