By DOTTY NIST
A final budget of $127,229,944 has been approved for the new fiscal year for Walton County government, $603,511 of which is for North Walton Mosquito Control.
The approval took place at the Walton County Board of County Commissioners’ (BCC) second and final required budget hearing on Sept. 21 at the Walton County Courthouse.
Commissioners in attendance were Bill Chapman, Sara Comander, Bill Imfeld, and Cecilia Jones.
The hearing was attended by a small group of county staff members, joined by Steve Jaeger of the Walton County Economic Development Alliance. No members of the general public were present, and no one came forward to provide input during public comment periods.
As determined at the meeting, there is to be no millage rate increase for the county budget for the 2015-16 fiscal year, with the millage rate remaining at 3.6363 mills for county government and at 0.4912 mill for North Walton Mosquito Control.
According to the budget resolution read by BCC Chairman Bill Imfeld and approved 4-0 by the commissioners in attendance, the approved millage rate represents, in aggregate, a 0.17-percent decrease from the rolled-back rate, which is the rate that would have resulted in essentially the same amount of ad valorem taxes being collected as in the current year.
The hearing was concluded within a few minutes with little BCC discussion.
Information on the budget is available from the Walton County Finance Department at (850) 892-8470.
