The proposed Johnson County Government budget for fiscal year 2011 holds the line on the county's property taxes for another year.

The county's proposed budget for next year totals $796.8 million, with expenditures estimated at $648.6 million and reserves set at $148.2 million for funding the 33 departments and five agencies that comprise Johnson County Government.

The proposed budget was drafted without an increase in the county's current taxing levy. It was crafted with a "rightsizing" of county government in its five-year plan and $15.7 million in expenditure reductions, eliminating 159 full-time vacant employee positions through attrition with no employee layoffs, and providing the best possible services at the least cost.

Other highlights of the proposed budget:

• A capital improvement program totaling $94 million, a slight decrease from FY2010, including:
  • $55.6 million for wastewater projects;
  • $12.9 million for the county assistance road system program;
  • $1.9 million for the county's bridge, road, and culvert program;
  • $10.7 million for the county's stormwater management program;
  • $5 million for bus replacement by the Transit Department; and
  • $2.8 million for land acquisition and capital improvements by the Johnson County Park and Recreation District.
• A wastewater rate increase of $1.14 per month for the median user, an increase of 5.4 percent over FY2010.
• A 1.5 percent salary merit increase for county employees. That is half the increase of recent years.

Property tax collections in 2011 are estimated to be $166.5 million, representing about 27 percent of the budget's revenue sources. That is a decrease of $9.9 million from 2010. Charges for services are placed at $165.3 million, accounting for about 25.5 percent of the county's anticipated 2011 revenues. The county anticipates a 5.61 percent decrease in the FY2011 assessed valuation and a decline of 4.09 percent in the FY2012 assessed valuation.

The county tax on a $244,000 residential property will be about $651, or $54.25 per month. The county tax on a $1,337,812 commercial property will be about $7,764. Both are down from 2010, reflecting projected decreased valuations in 2011.

The Board of County Commissioners reviewed the budget proposal and met with county departments and agencies in a series of work sessions in June, and will finalize the budget on July 8 for legal publication. Following legal publication, the county cannot, by law, increase the budgeted expenditures but can decrease the operating budget or taxing level.