Dane County Ends 2001 Fiscal Year with $2.1 Million Surplus

April 01, 2002
Topf Wells, 266-9069
County Executive

Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk announced today that Dane County ended its 2001 fiscal year with a surplus of over $2.1 million. Falk said “I directed county managers to take quick and decisive action last year to keep Dane County in excellent fiscal shape. Thanks to such actions as delayed hiring of some county staff and careful, accurate revenue projections, the county ended the year with a $2.1 million surplus. This surplus is an addition to our budgeted reserve account of $8.6 million.” The surplus is the result of two factors: 1. The first factor in the 2001 year end surplus was savings in many departments’ actual spending. Much of this saving is due to the hiring delay imposed by Falk in July, 2001. For example, the Department of Administration spent $282,075 less than budgeted due to savings in personal services and operating expenses while the Highway Department spent $252,739 less than budgeted due to savings in personnel services and operating expenses. Smaller departments also contributed to the savings. For example, the Planning & Development Department saved $52,154. 2. The second factor that helped to produce the year end surplus was that actual revenue collections were more than budgeted. For example, actual sales tax collections exceeded budgeted sales tax collections by $557,000, and the Register of Deeds Office collected $1.2 million more than budgeted primarily through the document recording fee charged when real estate transactions are recorded. Both of these factors contributed to an unaudited general fund balance of $10,782,000. When this unaudited balance is compared to the budgeted general fund balance of $8,601,000, it results in a general fund surplus of $2.1 million. This surplus can be carried forward to the 2003 Budget when it will be available to reduce the amount the county levies in property taxes. # # #