By Taylor Boyd
The Patrick County Board of Supervisors approved a set of financial policies presented by Davenport & Company LLC during its June 8 meeting.
Davenport Vice President Austin Sacks said the policies are designed to help the county maintain its strong financial position after several years of improving its fiscal health.
Sacks said the county’s unassigned fund balance, or reserves, has steadily increased over the past five years. More than a decade ago, however, the county faced annual deficits and relied on its reserves to cover expenses.
“The county had more expenditures than revenues, and actually in 2018-2019, the county had to do what’s called a Revenue Anticipation Note. It’s a short-term borrowing that must be repaid by the end of the fiscal year. What that really does is give the county enough cash on hand so that it can offer services, make its operational payments ahead of revenue influxes, those mostly being property taxes,” he said.
After seven years of focusing on structurally balanced budgets, Sacks said the county is now in a much stronger financial position.
