The Montgomery County Commissioners were presented with the proposed 2018 budget and five-year capital improvement program at their Nov. 16 meeting.

The presentation marked the first significant step in the budget process before public hearings scheduled for Nov. 30 and final adoption of the budget and CIP scheduled for Dec. 14. Both documents are posted on the county’s website, www.montocpa.org,  writes Oscar Gamble for The Times Herald.

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The 2018 proposed budget recommends no real estate tax increase, which will remain unchanged from 2017 at 3.459 mills for the county’s general operating fund and .390 mills for Montgomery County Community College dedicated funding, and it includes $3.8 million revenue surplus. Under the tax rate, the owner of a single family home with a market value of $315,000 will pay $588 in real estate taxes toward general fund services in 2018.

Expenses in the 2018 budget are projected at $403 million, an increase of $16 million, or 4.1 percent, over the current year, with $8.7 million of the increase allotted to contractual and noncontractual wage increases. Revenues are expected to increase over the 2017 budget by $13.8 million or 3.5 percent with a projected ending fund balance of $67.3 million.

The budget reflects an overall surplus of $7.6 million in 2017, which is $1.6 million higher than projected.

The 2018 general fund revenue is projected at $407 million, which represents a $13.7 million or 3.5 percent increase over 2017 and comprises 50.5 percent real estate taxes, 35 percent federal and state grants, 13.7 percent departmental earnings, and other revenue of 0.8 percent.

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