COLUMBUS –  Polk County ended fiscal year 2015-2016 with a healthy fund balance but compared to the previous year, the rainy day fund dropped from 32.8 percent to 31.1 percent, according to the annual audit report.

The Polk County Board of Commissioners met Monday, Dec. 5 and heard from Tonya Marshall with Gould Killian CPA Group, P.A. regarding the audit for fiscal year 2015-2016, which ended June 30, 2016.

Between fiscal year-end 2015 and fiscal year-end 2016, Polk County’s fund balance dropped $471,035.

At fiscal year-end 2014-2015, Polk County had $7,714,340 available for spending from its fund balance compared to $7,243,305 at fiscal year-end 2015-2016, according to the audit.

Since fiscal year-end 2014, Polk County’s fund balance has decreased by $1,216,883. Polk had a fund balance of $8,460,188 at year-end 2014 (two years ago), which was at the time 40.16 percent of its general fund expenditures.

Marshall said the county’s 31.1 percent fund balance is still very healthy in terms of a county. The county average across the state for fund balances was 27.5 percent in 2016, while the population group average was 34.7 percent, according to Marshall.

Marshall told commissioners there were no red flags concerning the stability of Polk County’s finances.

The auditors did give the county findings in the report this year regarding the department of social services and the recommendation for staffing.

Polk County Manager Marche Pittman said when the auditors were on site, there were several positions vacant in the DSS department but those positions have since been filled. Pittman said there is not a lot the county can do in that respect except ramp up the county’s recruiting efforts for DSS positions.

Other highlights of the county’s budget include that the county’s capital assets increased by $775,621 after depreciation. The increase was mainly due to ongoing waterline extensions and preliminary costs incurred on the new law enforcement center, according to the audit report.

The county’s total debt also decreased by $1,400,426 due to regular principal payments. The county took on no new debt during fiscal year 2015-2016, but has since taken on $13.5 million for the new law enforcement center during the current fiscal year. The county raised taxes by two cents this year to pay for the law enforcement debt and anticipates increasing taxes another two cents next fiscal year and another two cents the following fiscal year.

Polk County’s tax collection rate was 97.33 percent for fiscal year 2016, an increase from fiscal year 2015, which was 96.75 percent, according to the audit report. Polk County is about halfway through its current 2016-2017 fiscal year. The county’s budget year runs from July 1-June 30.