Mike Sylvia: Belknap county will be fine operating under the new budget

To The Daily Sun,

Contrary to the gloom and doom Belknap County is not going to collapse with a budget of $30.3 million on which to operate in 2021. While this amount is a reduction from the $32 million recommended by the commissioners, it is $1.7 million more than was needed to run the county in 2020.

The budget approved by the delegation is a 5.3% reduction from the commissioners' request and still a 5.6% increase over 2020 spending. It is common for the commissioners to load up their budget in order to assure that more than ample funds are available. The delegation in 2020 reduced the commissioners' request by 6.2%; the county survived. In fact, there was enough extra in the 2020 budget to push the commissioners' recommended fund balance beyond its upper limit.

We have an excellent management team running Belknap county. The addition of Peter Spanos to the board of commissioners will prove to be an excellent choice. His skills in finance and business will deliver to the fund balance at the end of 2021 another $600,000. This will restore the commissioners' desired fund balance to a comfortable $3.6 million. While some think the delegation is too demanding, I have confidence in our management's ability to live up to the challenge.

Rep. Mike Sylvia

Belmont