County Government Trends & Issues

2:00 – 2:40, Feb. 5, 2015SU 408, Case Study 1

Notie Lansford, Extension Economist

New County Extension Director Retreat

Issues• $, Budgets, Funding, Dollars, …

– Jail inmates, road damage, • Training• CAMA – computer assisted mass appraisal• Open Records Requests & Cost• Sovereign Citizens• Assessment Percentage• Ad Valorem Exemption Reimbursement

Issues, p. 2• Posting county employee salaries on website• Allowing commissioners to do work for cities

and schools• Making sheriff elections non-partisan• Open Meetings• Fair Board Elections

Contact us if you need info on proposed legislation affecting county govt.

Financially, Recognition of “What Is”

• 10 Mill Ad Valorem, Max• Constitutional Assessment Percentage Range• 2% Sales & Use Tax, Max• Fixed Fuel Taxes & Formulas to Allocate• Fixed Calculations for Gross Production &

Motor Vehicle Taxes• Defined Fees and Use Thereof• Defined funding for CED’s, CBRI, etc

Trends in County Govt.• Move from Prop Tax to Sales Tax

– Heavier dependence by smaller counties• Move from General Fund to “Cash Funds”

– Proliferation of fees and number of cash funds• Move from Paper to Digital

– Paying taxes, filing documents, online access, …• The smaller the county, the tighter the money

– Small pop = small tax base, with exceptions!

Smaller Pop County = Higher Sales Tax

Group I Group II Group III Group IV*0 - 10,000 10 - 20,000 20-45,000 45-130,000

Number of Counties Counties*74 19 16 22 17

Sales Tax Rate: General 0.33 25 0.62 13 0.48 5 0.10 3 0.16 4 Cash 0.92 66 0.87 15 1.13 13 0.94 22 0.75 16 Highway 0.01 1 0.02 1 - 0 - 0 - 0 Average of Total ST Rate 1.25 1.51 1.62 1.03 0.91

Percentage of Sales Tax Rate: General 21% 41.23% 28.27% 6.02% 13.10% Cash 78% 57.59% 71.73% 93.98% 86.90% Highway 0% 1.18% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00%

Average Population 29,646 6,051 13,197 32,458 67,859 *All Counties except for Oklahoma, Tulsa, and Cleveland

Orange text represents the number of counties per group utizilizing the separate funds.

Table 1. County Sales Tax allocation, Statewide and by Population Group, Fiscal Year 2013

County Sales & Lodging Taxes

WOODWARD

AD

AIR

ALFA

LFA

ATOKA

BECKHAM

BLAINE

BRYAN

CANADIAN

CARTER

CH

ER

OK

EE

CHOCTAW

CIMARRON

CLE

VE

LAN

D

COMANCHE

COTTON

CRAIG

CUSTER

DE

LAW

AR

E

DEWEY

ELLIS

GARFIELD

GRADY

GRANT

GREER

HA

RM

ON

HARPER

JACKSON

JEFFERSON

KAY

KIOWA LATIMER

LOVE

MAYES

MURRAY

MUSKOGEE

NOBLE

NO

WATA

OKLAHOMA

OKMULGEE

OSAGE

OTTAWA

PAWNEE

PAYNE

PUSHMATAHA

ROGER MILLS

ROGERS

SEQUOYAH

STEPHENSTILLMAN

TU

LSA

WAGONER

WASHITA

WOODS

WA

SH

ING

TO

N

MARSHALL

MAJOR

KINGFISHER

BEAVER

TEXAS

LOGANCREEK

LINCOLN

OKFUSKEE

McINTOSHCADDO

MCCLAIN

GARVIN

SE

MIN

OLE

PO

TTA

WA

TO

MIE

HU

GH

ES

PITTSBUR

G

HASKELL

LE F

LOR

E

COAL

JOHNSTON

PONTOTOC

McCURTAIN

Lodging Tax Counties, 12

Sales & Use Tax, 75

Sales Tax only, 1

December 2011

County Sales Tax Uses

Ear-marked UseNo.

counties Avg % Range

General Fund 18 57.46% 7%-64%

Jail 41 80.27% 13%-100%

Fire 55 55.59% 3%-100%

OSU Extension/ 4-H 18 9.66% 0.5%-49.5%

Roads and Bridges 24 55.54% 12%-100%

Free Fair 11 5.37% 1.9%-15%

Sheriff 23 34.18% 1%-100%

Senior Citizen 15 11.19% 1%-100%

Hospital 16 86.67% 40%-100%

Courthouse 18 38.79% 4%-100%

EMS 8 19.84% .5%-55%

Econ Development 10 3.07% .25%-8%

Group I Group II Group III Group IV

0 - 10,000 10 - 20,000 20-45,000 > 45,000Number of Counties Counties* 77 19 16 22 20

Item (Dollars)General Fund

Beginning Cash Surplus 1,998,472 2,072,862 1,416,000 1,384,144 3,069,540

Revenues:

Ad Valorem 3,531,862 866,627 848,392 1,863,740 10,045,546 County Clerk Fees 265,228 78,429 74,352 158,428 712,868 Motor Vehicle Fees 71,002 10,388 21,762 51,195 189,766 Interest on Investments 31,817 29,881 19,304 27,190 48,756 Sales Tax Receipts 594,439 798,700 546,909 227,766 841,754 Other Revenue 1,005,285 524,024 479,330 728,995 2,187,166 Total Revenue 5,499,633 2,308,049 1,990,049 3,057,313 14,025,856

Total Revenues and Cash Balance 7,498,105 4,380,910 3,406,049 4,441,457 17,095,396

Total Expenditures 5,181,194 1,823,209 1,928,622 2,902,889 13,479,472

End of Year Cash Surplus 2,316,911 2,557,701 1,477,428 1,538,568 3,615,924

Average Population 49,546 6,051 13,197 32,458 138,742

Table 3a. County General Fund Average Cash Balance, Revenues, and Total Expenditures, Statewide and by Population Group, Fiscal Year 2013

Excludes Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Cleveland Counties

Excludes Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Cleveland Counties

Group I Group II Group III Group IV

0 - 10,000 10 - 20,000 20-45,000 > 45,000Number of Counties Counties* 77 19 16 22 20

Item (Dollars)

Highway FundAdjusted Cash Balance 2,367,663 2,429,153 1,531,924 2,374,661 2,970,141

Revenues:

Gross Production Tax 816,934 918,546 506,451 828,457 956,115 Diesel Excise Tax 405,200 298,249 311,472 379,240 610,340 Gasoline Excies Tax 1,120,322 880,988 859,380 1,065,331 1,616,932 Special Fuel Tax 127 115 85 108 194 Motor Vehicle Tax 1,112,999 908,742 849,867 1,032,573 1,606,017 Cash Fund Balance Forward 50,664 32,058 51,999 82,560 32,188 Other Revenue 1,011,047 1,095,136 748,029 851,168 1,317,446 Total Revenue 4,517,294 4,133,833 3,327,282 4,239,437 6,139,232

Total Revenues and Cash Balance 6,884,957 6,562,986 4,859,207 6,614,099 9,109,373

Total Expenditures 4,567,380 3,861,437 3,336,541 4,473,815 6,325,618

End of Year Cash Surplus 2,317,577 2,701,549 1,522,665 2,140,283 2,783,755

Average Population 49,546 6,051 13,197 32,458 138,742

Table 3b. County Highway Fund Average Cash Balance, Revenues, and Total Expenditures, Statewide and by Population Group, Fiscal Year 2013

Cash Funds

• Table 3c (next page)– Looks more normal– Where does your county put sales tax?– Where does your county put use tax?

Group I Group II Group III Group IV

0 - 10,000 10 - 20,000 20-45,000 > 45,000Number of Counties Counties* 77 19 16 22 20

Item (Dollars)

Cash FundAdjusted Cash Balance 5,293,421 2,386,384 2,978,648 4,742,056 10,513,426

Total Revenue 6,293,986 2,331,996 2,685,981 5,376,961 13,953,008

Total Revenue and Cash Balance 11,587,407 4,718,381 5,664,629 10,119,017 24,466,433

Total Expenditures 6,033,400 1,805,487 2,545,059 5,408,848 13,527,598

End Year Cash Surplus 5,585,255 2,912,894 3,119,570 4,819,538 10,938,835

Average Population 49,546 6,051 13,197 32,458 138,742

Table 3c. County Cash Fund Average Cash Balance, Revenues, and Total Expenditures, Statewide and by Population Group, Fiscal Year 2013

Group I Group II Group III Group IV0 - 10,000 10 - 20,000 20-45,000 > 45,000

Number of Counties Average of all 77 Counties 19 16 22 20Item (Dollars)

Cash Fund:*

Assessor Revolving Fund 6,236 4,727 5,426 7,952 6,489 County Clerk Mechanic Lien 35,045 30,482 17,906 35,578 52,275 County Clerk Preservation 67,555 19,282 20,732 49,585 170,639 Treasurer Mortgage Certification Fee 10,602 1,251 2,503 6,570 30,399 Resale Property 342,730 29,611 86,792 203,718 985,059 Sheriff Department of Corrections 287,470 224,356 208,869 239,169 543,366 Sheriff Service Fee 314,573 85,096 148,721 373,598 600,331 All Others 357,527 184,389 155,351 211,917 680,081

Population: 49,546 6,051 13,197 32,943 138,742

*NOTE: The following Cash Funds are a combination of the separately named funds.

Assessor Revolving Fund Sheriff Department of CorrectionsAssessor Fund Sheriff Dept. of CorrectionsAssessor H-4 Sheriff Board of PrisonersAssessor Hardware Bd. Of PrisonersAssessor Revolving Sheriff Cont. Pris.County Assessor Sheriff PrisonerTreasurer Mortgage Certification Fee Resale Property County Treasurer Cert. Fee Resale Property County Treasurer Certification Fee Resale VoucherMortgage TaxTreasurer Mortgage Certificaiton FeeTreasurer FundMortgage Certification FeeTreasurer CashSheriff Service Fee County Clerk Mechanic LienSheriff Fee Fund County ClerkSheriff Service Fee County Clerk F-4Sheriff Service Fee B-4 County Clerk Mech. Lien FeeCounty Sheriff County Clerk Mechanic LienSheriff Cash (Caddo only)Sheriff Revolving (Logan only)

Table 1. County Cash Fund Revenue, Average Statewide and by Population Group, Fiscal Year 2013

Ad Valorem22%

Sales Tax26%

Fuel Taxes10%

Motor Vehicle

Fees8%

All Other Highway

14%

All Other Funds19%

Revenue Sources, All County Government Funds, FY 2010

Statewide FY 2010Ad Valorem 242,580,791 Sales Tax 287,197,922 Fuel Taxes 112,752,833 Motor Vehicle Fees 84,703,973 All Other Highway 152,251,885 All Other Funds 207,295,837

Related Publications• Handbooks - http://agecon.okstate.edu/ctp/handbooks.asp

• Abstract of County Government General, Highway, and Special Revenue Funds in Oklahoma Fiscal Year 2012-2013

• Comparison of County Finances, F-902 • County Sales, Use, & Lodging Tax Summary Report, FY 2013 • Duties and Responsibilities of Elected County Officials • Duties and Responsibilities of Non-Elected County Officials • Tutorials and Videos • Training Classes Schedule • County Financial Trend Reports – example Major County• All the above and more at the County Training Program

website: http://agecon.okstate.edu/ctp

Contact Infohttp://agecon.okstate.edu/ctp/