Aug. 21—Thanks to the adoption of a bill earlier this year, Cleveland County commissioners will open a Rainy Day Fund and may deposit the emergency funds in October.
Oklahoma counties have not had the budgeting tool the state enjoys, but in April, Governor Kevin Stitt signed a bill to change that.
State Rep. J.J. Humphreys (R-Choctaw) and Senator Marty Quinn (R-Claremore) proposed the bill.
District 1 Rod Cleveland worked with lawmakers to get it adopted by the legislature.
Cleveland said the ability to have a rainy day fund would mean increased transparency because the fund is budgeted with limitations and it would better prepare the county in the event of natural disasters.
According to the law, counties are allowed to use a quarter of the funds for locally and federally-declared natural disasters, one-eight to cover revenue shortfalls, one-eighth for a revenue failure and a quarter for capital expenses.
“The whole point of this legislation is (to) actually show transparency in budgeting and accountability and planning,” Cleveland said.
Without a rainy day fund, the commission could carry the excess in the general fund, where new commissioners could decide to spend the funds as they wish.
“There’s examples of that all the time,” Cleveland said in other counties.
While Cleveland could not say how much would be deposited in the rainy day fund, the county budgets up to 95% of its anticipated revenue with an estimate of the county’s needs each year.
“Once we finalize that revenue, we made a motion that anything in excess is going to go to that rainy day fund,” Cleveland said. “In years past it’s (5%) been from $300,000 to $800,000. I don’t know how much it’s going to be right now, but when we finalize it, we will know.”
The amount should become apparent by October, when the county closes out the previous year’s finances, he said.
District 2 Darry Stacy applauded the effort.
“I appreciate our county law makers for passing a bill that allows us to set up a rainy day fund at the county level,” he said in a prepared statement. “We are charged with being good stewards of taxpayer dollars and with making sure we continue services to our residents at the highest level. This helps us do that.”
The upfront cost of natural disaster relief the county incurs can be difficult because of the length of time it takes to get reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Administration. While the county pays for the cost, it must wait, with the general fund holding the bag.
“It would be upwards of three to five years,” Cleveland said of how long it can take to obtain reimbursement of that money.
Stacy recalled past natural disasters the county has been forced to grapple with.
“We have learned firsthand the impact that natural disasters and other unexpected events can have on county operations and our residents,” Stacy said in a prepared statement. “Three months after I took office in January 2013, tornadoes hit eastern Cleveland County and Moore, leveling homes and businesses, damaging roads and other infrastructure and taking precious lives. This was on the heels of widespread wildfires the previous summer. When our county is impacted by large scale events, having a rainy day fund provides a safeguard to cover a loss of revenue or an increase in expenses.”
McHughes said Cleveland designed the language with Rogers County Treasurer Jason Carini.
“They contacted the Pew Charitable Trust, and the trust did the research for the bill and kind of reviewed and put it together for them,” Cleveland’s Deputy Commissioner Jacob McHughes said. “Then Cleveland County requested the legislation with Rogers County.”
Mindy Wood covers City Hall news and notable court cases for The Transcript. Reach her at [email protected] or 405-416-4420.
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