The Boone County Commission is tightening its spending targets as the its primary funding source - sales tax revenue - decline. Boone County auditor June Pitchford says sales tax revenue is down 3.5 percent.
Revenue from sales tax contributes 50 percent of the general fund, 80 percent of the road and bridge fund, and 100 percent of law enforcement services fund.
Pitchford says being realistic about expected revenue and expenditures is helping to prevent the cutting of staff and services.
"The primary means by which county services are delivered is through our personnel. So, reductions in staffing levels will affect service levels. So, the County Commission and I and other elected department directors are trying to employ every strategy possible to avoid staffing reductions."
So far the commission has avoided layoff by keeping vacant positions open. Missouri's attorney general is suing a now defunct Columbia developer for clean water violations.
According to Chris Koster's office, a Garth Coleman Builders' subdivision had contributed to polluting a Rocky Fork Creek tributary.
Inspections to the propety found that erosion control structures and best management practices were not in place. Deputy Attorney General Joe Dandurand says soil, rocks, and sediment from the property were rushing into the stream and affecting aquatic life and the soil.
The property is now in possession of the bank, which has brought the land into environmental compliance. Calls to Garth Coleman have not been returned.
© Copyright 2010, KBIA