No tax or fee increases are proposed for the 2010 to 2011 fiscal year budget for Richmond County, but officials will have to dip into reserves to balance it once again.

County Manager Rick Sago will present the new budget to county commissioners Monday in a 1 p.m. meeting at the County Administration Building, 125 S. Hancock St. in Rockingham. Since taking over as manager in August, this is his first budget.

The tax rate remains at 81 cents per $1,000 valuation on property. Solid Waste Disposal fees remain at $145 annually for county residents and $105 for city residents. Senior citizens and disabled customers get a break at $76.85 for county and $56.70 for city. The minimum county water bill remains at $17.50 for the first 2,000 gallons.

“I had an almost $3 million gap to close,” he said when he began working on departmental requests,” Sago said. “Some of this gap was closed by using fund balance, while the remainder was made up in cuts to departmental budgets.”

The budget takes $1 million from the reserve fund. Last year almost $1.5 million was expected to be needed from the fund.

“The budget has been balanced through use of fund balance for several years in a row,” he said, “and this is unsustainable.”

From fiscal year 2007-08 to date, some $4 million has been taken from the reserve fund. With the new proposed budget, that amount will increase to $5 million.

“More will have to be done in the upcoming year to save money in order to discontinue this practice of depleting fund balance to balance the budget,” Sago said.

The N.C. Local Government Commission recommends counties have at least eight percent of a total budget amount in a Fund Balance. In Richmond County that would be approximately $3.5 million. If the county adopts the proposed budget, $4.55 million would be left in the county’s Fund Balance. At one time it was up to $8.55 million.

The overall proposed 2010-11 General Fund Budget is some $1.3 million less than the current budget.

“This proposed budget is extremely conservative and tight,” Sago said. “There are funds set aside to meet our debt requirements and maintaining current county operations.”

He said many departmental budgets have been cut severely, and some organizations have been recommended for funding below what was requested.

As a cost-saving measure, Sago will continue to serve as the Richmond County economic developer as well as county manager.

“I am confident that our recruitment efforts have not in any way been sacrificed,” he said.

To help balance the budget, Sago is proposing to take $500,000 from the Richmond County E911 Reserve Fund. Last year that amount was $30,000. Sago said these funds became available to the General Fund a couple of years ago when the state revamped E911 regulations.

Costs for the new Richmond County Judicial Center are showing up in the budget, exclusive of the Sheriff’s Office expenses for the building, they include $43,000 for janitorial services, another full-time person in the Maintenance Department and $100,000 for utilities.

On Monday, commissioners will be asked by Sago for their comments on his proposals.

“The continued uncertainty associated with the local, state, national and global economy is cause for concern in the coming year as well as in future years,” Sago said.

The proposed fiscal year 2010-11 General Fund Budget is balanced at $44,552,667 compared to last year’s at $45,895,885.

The proposed Water and Sewer Fund Budget, funded solely with fees charged, is at $4,237,348 compared to the current year’s $4,462,492 estimate. The proposed Solid Waste Fund Budget is at $3,482,000 compared to the current $3,688,666 estimate.

The current fiscal year ends June 30. Any funds not spent in the General Fund Budget will be a “savings” for the county which would not then be taken from the fund balance. Water/Sewer and Solid Waste funds remain in those accounts and cannot be shifted to other funds.

Sago cautioned that all revenue and expenses in the proposed budget are projections which during the year are subject to change.

For senior citizens and the disabled, it is necessary to go to the County Tax Office to sign up to get a discount on the Solid Waste Fee.