Craighead County's Treasurer says he is nervously watching the county's year end budget numbers through the rest of the month.
Terry McNatt says he watches two county accounts very close…the county's general fund and the county's road department fund.
The general fund has 442 thousand dollars and the road department has 447 thousand dollars. While that sounds like a lot of money, McNatt says those numbers are way too close for comfort.
During last night's Quorum Court meeting, he told the justices on the Finance Committee that bills still are coming in for work done in 2016 that could drop those numbers further. He says that since 2011, the county has done a much better job of building a surplus to help cushion those end of the year numbers.
He says 2017's budget is expected to be tight again, especially with the uncertainty of fuel prices and other unexpected expenses. The Finance Committee passed a motion to put in writing that department heads should curb their spending as much as possible and so more money can be put in reserves.
Justice Jim Bryant stated the money that is left over should be used to give all county employees a raise in 2018. That discussion will be on the table numerous times this year.
