October 20, 2023
By: Dwayne Page
DeKalb County has been recognized by the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury for having adopted its 2023-24 budget prior to the start of the fiscal year.
During Thursday night’s committee of the whole meeting of the county commission, County Mayor Matt Adcock said the county has received a budget certificate recognizing local officials for this achievement.
“That is a big deal for this county commission. Congratulations. Good job. I have talked to some other people, and they can’t remember DeKalb County ever passing a budget before the next fiscal year. It is usually done in July. This year it was done in June,” said County Mayor Adcock.
State law requires every county, municipality, and utility district in Tennessee to adopt an annual budget.
According to the state comptroller, to be effective, a budget should be adopted prior to the beginning of the fiscal year. The budget should also be based on reliable estimates, structurally balanced, provide for cash liquidity, allow for adequate reserves, monitored throughout the year, and amended as necessary.
Local officials that adopt budgets meeting the following specific criteria are awarded an annual certificate from the Comptroller of the Treasury:
The budget was adopted on or before the fiscal year end;
The budget was filed with the state comptroller’s office within 15 days of adoption;
No issues of concern were raised during the comptroller’s review of the budget; and
The local government is not currently under the oversight of the Tennessee Board of Utility Regulation.
County Mayor Adcock read the recognition letter from the State Comptroller’s Office to the county commission.
“This letter acknowledges and commends the county commission on their timely adoption of a balanced budget for DeKalb County’s 2024 fiscal year beginning July 1, 2023. The review of the county’s budget was completed by the comptroller’s division of local government finance and resulted in a standard approval indicating the county’s commitment to operate with a sound financial plan”.
“State law requires that every governmental entity in Tennessee adopt an annual budget. The county commission adopted the 2024 fiscal year budget prior to the beginning of the fiscal year. Our review of the budget reflected that the budget was passed on reliable estimates, structurally balanced, provided for cash liquidity, allowed for adequate reserves, and was monitored throughout the year and amended as necessary”.
“The budget also met specific criteria which qualified DeKalb County for an annual budget certificate. The budget was adopted on or before the beginning of the fiscal year and filed within our office (state comptroller) within 15 days of adoption. Further, there were no issues of concern raised during our review of the budget”.
“We congratulate the governing body on your outstanding work and challenge the county commission to continue its strong budgetary oversight and control. We look forward to the same level of excellence for future budget submissions”.