Letter to the County Commissioners from County Administrator Jeff Aluotto:
Board of County Commissioners,
It is my pleasure to provide you with the Hamilton County Administrator's 2023 Recommended Budget.
The 2023 Recommended Budget reflects an unprecedented alignment of strategic priorities within our County organization and among our external strategic partners. This includes focusing on public safety while addressing the underlying challenges of addiction and mental health, addressing the lingering impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the light it shed on both longstanding and new economic and social disparities in the community, and working with our community and strategic partners to address major infrastructure challenges necessary to revitalize our County. It also includes working to strengthen the County as an organization and its ability to attract and retain top talent to carry out these critical endeavors.
The budget narrative that follows details how the County organization is working proactively to make Hamilton County a better place to live, address the roots of our greatest challenges, and meet the needs of all of our residents – notably those who are most vulnerable or face life challenges making it difficult for them to thrive in our community. As the budget seeks to accomplish the strategic priorities of the organization, it must first be financially sound. The budget before you is balanced and is sized appropriately to meet the needs of the community and the operating priorities of the department directors and elected officials charged with carrying out the critical work of the County.
But challenges remain. The County's budget is balanced on the recent strength of revenue performance and buttressed by the quarter-cent addition to sales tax in 2019. It is not hyperbole to state that had the Board of County Commissioners not enacted the additional quarter cent sales tax, the County would be facing fiscal emergency today. Revenues from the additional quarter cent have been programmed precisely as designed when approved by the Board. They have been targeted to support ongoing critical needs of the County including enhancing public safety, making needed capital investments, advancing strategic economic development partnerships and, importantly, addressing the ability to attract and retain top talent. However, it is unlikely that future economic conditions will yield revenue performance as we have seen over the past 18 months. Budgets in future years will face balancing stresses and will require that increases in expenditures closely match organic revenue growth. The partnerships built across all County offices will become all the more important as the County faces those future challenges.
I am confident that the recommended budget proposed in this document presents a pathway toward a stronger County organization and offers a solid platform on which the County can meet the needs of the community and its residents.
Respectfully submitted,
Jeffrey W. Aluotto
County Administrator
2023 Administrator's Recommended Budget
2023 Administrator's Recommended Budget Presentation
2023 Administrator's Recommended Budget Snapshot
Original source can be found here.
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