BY KARISSA MILLER
An independent auditing firm has given Iredell County government a clean report to close the books for fiscal year 2021-2022.
During the Iredell County Board of Commissioners meeting on Tuesday, Erica Brown with Martin Starnes and Associates reported that the county ended the year with approximately $111.5 million in available fund balance.
The audit showed the fund balance grew by $24 million, or 16 percent, during the fiscal year. The fund balance is equivalent to 48 percent of the General Fund expenditures for fiscal year 2021-2022.
For fiscal year 2020-2021, the average fund balance for the county’s peer group was 32 percent, Brown said. She did not have comparable information available for 2021-2022.
The county’s revenues increased by about 3.6 percent — from $247.1 million to $256.1 million — in fiscal year 2021-2022. Expenditures increased by 1.9 percent from about $227.7 million to $232 million.
Property tax revenues account for about 60 percent of the General Fund. Additional revenue sources are taxes and licenses (25 percent), sales and services (6 percent) and miscellaneous sources (10 percent).
In fiscal year 2020-2021, the county’s ad valorem tax revenues increased by 3 percent from the previous year — from $147.8 million to $152.8 million. Other taxes and licenses increased by 13 percent — from $55.8 million to $63.1 million.
Meanwhile, revenue from sales and services increased by 32 percent — from $10.8 million to $14.3 million. A majority of the increase in this revenue stream was related to health service fees and ambulance fees. There was a school resource officer reimbursement that was new for the year, Brown said.
General Fund Expenditures
The top four General Fund expenditures are:
• Education: 37 percent
• Public Safety: 23 percent
• Human Services: 14 percent
• Debt Service: 13 percent.
In 2021-2022, education expenditures actually decreased by 11.6 percent — from $91.3 million to $80.7 million.
According to Brown, a majority of the decrease was the result of a lottery fund disbursement of $4.8 million in fiscal year 2020-2021 that didn’t reoccur in 2021-2022 and a decrease in student enrollment or Average Daily Membership.
County Manager Beth Mull pointed pointed out that most of the county’s debt service is related to education. As a result, nearly 50 percent of the annual budget is tied to education funding, she said.
Public Safety funding increased from $47.8 million in 2020-2021 to $50.5 million in 2021-2022. That represents a 5.5 percent increase.
Human services expenditures increased from $30.5 million to $31.5 million in 2021-2022 (2 percent).
Debt service increased from $27.7 million to $29.2 million in 2021- 2022 (5.5 percent). A majority of the increase was related to construction of the new Mooresville Graded School District middle school.
The audit has been approved by the Local Government Commission.
Board of Commissioners Chair Melissa Neader expressed her appreciation for the work of the county’s finance team
“The charts are indicative of the hours of work and time and effort that go into keeping the county running,” she said. “Without accurate records, we could not be able to have a successful county. It really brings to light that we are blessed with extreme talent with our finance team.”