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COUNTY NEWS “


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A good county budget process can be summed up as a combination of


leadership, collaboration and communication. — Eddie A. Jones


Eddie A. Jones, county con- sultant, talks about the relative relationship between revenue projections and expenses and how important it is to have ac- curate revenue projections.


” “If


you to have err, err on the side of conservatism,” he said.


Tim Stuckey, Grant County Treasurer, comments during a panel discussion.


Dec. 31 for Arkansas county government. The budget process starts with a good set of


revenue projections, said Jones. “One of the key points to be understood in


the development of a county budget is that the budget, which represents expenditures, is only as good as the revenue projections on which it is based. It is extremely important to have accurate revenue projections. If you err – err on the side of conservatism,” he said. More times than not budget requests exceed


revenue. “Always approach budget cuts on a priority basis,” Jones said. A.C.A. 14-14-802 provides a list of services and functions that a county must provide and a list that a county may provide.


“Start the cuts in the ‘may’ sec-


tion. Although some of these services and func- tions may seem very important, they are not required by law,” he said. Remember the quorum court appropriates the money, he added. “It is sometimes diffi- cult for the executive branch and the legislative branch to work together. We tend to look at things from different perspectives. But, we must respect others. Different views force us to think,” he said. “If we work to understand why others are expressing ideas that we find disagreeable – it will normally cause them to do the same. At that point you will be able to forge a workable compromise – a solution. Use a little diplomacy and wisdom.” Because of the elements involved in prepar-


COUNTY LINES, WINTER 2012


Janet Hibbitts, White County Treasurer, talks about budget preparations and how to use the county treasurer’s automation fund.


ing a county budget, the officials most likely to be involved are the county judge, county clerk, county treasurer, and for the counties that have one – the comptroller. “We were happy to put together this most informative workshop through our ACE Pro- gram in an effort to help our county officials get ready for their critical budget process,” said


Chris Villines, AAC executive director. “This is one of those duties of county government that, although extremely complex, often goes unno- ticed by the public due to how well their county officials work together to get the job done.” The ARcounties Continuing Education


(ACE) Program is the educational arm of the Association of Arkansas Counties.


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