News
County Executive
County Council
Judiciary
Departments
I Want To ...
Services & Info.
Online Services
County Cable 6
 Seniors
Education
Libraries
Volunteer
Careers
Contact Us
|
 |
Statement by County Executive Ike Leggett Regarding the FY12 County Operating Budget
|
- For Immediate Release: 5/19/2011
|
“I want to thank the County Council and Council President Ervin for their hard work on the FY12 Recommended Operating Budget and Capital Budget. Overall, the Council adopted 98 percent of what was recommended in the FY12 Budget. This budget continues the work we started four years ago to put the County’s fiscal house in order, while sustaining critical County services, reducing spending, and investing in our County’s future.
“I especially appreciate the many sacrifices made by all County employees in helping to close the $300 million shortfall. Over the past four years we have closed $2.5 billion dollars in budget shortfalls.
With this budget we made significant progress on a number of important budget challenges.
The County:
• Increased our reserves to the County policy level;
• Set aside $40 million in prefunding to cover retiree health benefits, resuming our schedule of payments the County was not able to make last year;
• Continued reducing the size of the County workforce – now more than a ten percent reduction in the last few years;
• Invested in job creation and business development with initiatives in biotech as well as Costco in Wheaton;
• Maintained the Charter limit on property taxes and accomplished it in a way that saves money for 84 percent of County taxpayers;
• Increased funding for our Police Department to address public safety challenges;
• Saved the County millions of dollars by restructuring County employee health benefits and retirement contributions – ongoing savings that will save County taxpayers in every year going forward; and
• Set aside $9 million for snow and storm cleanup, easing the pressure to use our reserves.
“The Recommended Operating Budget, now approved by the Council, truly changes the way our County does business – for now and into the future.
“I believe we accomplished a great deal in this budget but much remains to be done as we continue to grapple with the impacts of the lingering national economic downturn. I look forward to working with the County Council and the many members of our community toward that end.”
|
|
» Return to Statements
|
|
|
