By EDWARD HUSAR
Herald-Whig Staff Writer

The Adams County Board will hear an update tonight on the proposed county budget being developed for the 2009 fiscal year, including a proposal to boost the county's mental health tax levy by approximately $300,000.

Finance Committee Chairman John Heidbreder said he will recommend the board convene a special meeting Nov. 18 to finalize the spending plan, which will continue to be adjusted over the next week.

Heidbreder said the Finance Committee has not been meeting individually with each office holder and department head to talk about budget details. "If anybody wants to holler and scream after they see the document (tonight), we'll try to meet with them during the next eight days," he said.

Heidbreder said the General Fund's capital requests currently stand at about $630,000, but those requests "are in the process of being pared down."

One request the board will hear about tonight is a proposal by Transitions of Western Illinois to bump up the county's mental health tax levy to "the $650,000 range" to improve services to the developmentally disabled, Heidbreder said. The mental health levy in the current tax year was $374,270, which required a tax rate of approximately 4.3 cents per $100 assessed valuation.

The county has authority to raise the mental heath tax rate to a maximum of 10 cents.

Boosting the mental health levy would force the County Board to limit spending elsewhere because county officials have a goal of seeing the county's overall rate rise by no more than 5 percent, Heidbreder said.

Heidbreder said the latest projection he received from local taxing officials is that the county's total equalized assessed valuation is expected to rise by about 5.91 percent in the 2008 tax year, which would bump up the county's revenue if the rates stayed about the same.

The General Fund budget -- the main component of the county's overall spending plan -- is projected to show $13.5 million in expenses and approximately $12.7 million in revenue.

"We're going to have a budget out of balance, and the difference will be made up by surplus" from this year's budget, he said.

He said the current budget -- initially projected at $12.7 million in expenses -- is expected to have a carryover of about $2 million. Some of that unspent money will be used to offset the deficit in next year's budget, Heidbreder said.

He said the Finance Committee has a goal of keeping a healthy carryover from year to year.

"Eventually, over a two-year period, we think the County General should have a planned carry over in the $1.5 million range to be able to operate government without having to borrow in anticipation of receiving property taxes," Heidbreder said.

He noted the county is usually in the seventh month of its fiscal year before it starts to see any revenue from property taxes, so having built-in carryover would help prevent the county from having to borrow on a short-term basis. "Plus, that gives us a little cushion for something unexpected," he said.

By having a healthy carryover this year, and by generally keeping a tight rein on spending, the county "is in very, very solid financial shape," Heidbreder said.

"Our country's broke. Our state's broke. But Adams County ain't broke, and we're going to keep it that way," he said.

Heidbreder said the County Board will be asked to consider setting aside some funds in next year's budget for various jail-related improvements identified as priorities. For example, the board's Health and Safety Committee is recommending that $65,000 be spent to retrofit a dumb waiter so elevator service can be provided to the jail's fourth floor. The committee also wants to make several other jail-related improvements totaling about $150,000.

-- ehusar@whig.com/221-3378