A report from Zumbahlen, Eyth, Surratt, Foote and Flynn in Jacksonville shows the county generated about $8.1 million in revenue in the general fund for Fiscal Year 2012 against $7.75 million in expenditures. After funds transfers, that meant a surplus of about $87,000.

The county was left with a ending fund balance of $6.14 million.

Commissioner Brad Zeller says the county cut about $20,000 from its budget last year and mainly did so through eliminating positions through retirement and attrition.

Zeller says the major portion of the county’s expenses comes from salaries.

“So, if there is going to be a deficit and there’s going to have to have some cuts made, it will be in people. We don’t like to say that, and we’re not looking forward to that. We hope the economy can turn around and the revenues would go back up so then we can maintain our current staff.”

Zeller says trends have pointed to a smaller and smaller surplus for the county each year over the last several.

“When we pass a budget, the budget assumes that every dollar is spent to balance the budget. So, during the course of the year, all the elected officials, administrators, they normally don’t spend all their money. Ourselves, too. We don’t spend all of our money, [all] of the capital fund and different funds. So we have reserved balances left at the end of the year,” he says.

“Normally, those would total up to $300,000 or $400,000 that we know we’re going to carry over for our balance for next year. But this year, we basically came out dead even.”

Zeller says not much else stood out in the report. It indicated that public health and welfare expenses dropped, mainly from Morgan County’s decision to consolidate the tuberculosis clinic.

Capital outlay expenses dropped about a million dollars to roughly $1.5 million last fiscal year.