Minnesota Auditor Rebecca Otto released a report this week that gives local government officials and the public the chance to see how the state’s counties make and spend money.

The 2010 Minnesota County Finances Report summarizes the financial operations of each county while also exploring some long-term statewide spending trends.

According to the report, Freeborn County’s revenues were listed at $40.6 million in 2010, while the county’s spending was listed at $37.3 million.

Revenues included money from taxes, assessments, licenses and permits, state and federal grants, and borrowing.

Some highlights of the expenditures are as follows:

• Public safety: $9.68 million

• Streets and highways: $7.16 million

• Human services: $7.8 million

• Health: $3.35 million

• Debt service: $1.44 million

The county’s unreserved fund balance at the end of 2010 was $14.8 million, and the county’s bond debt was listed at $23.4 million, according to the report.

Bill Helfritz, county finance director, said about $20 million of the debt came from bonds issued for the construction of the new courthouse, and about $3 million of that was designated for ditches.

In addition to the $23.4 million, there is also about $3.68 million in other long-term debt for the new Allied Radio Matrix for Emergency Response system.

Helfritz said what was classified as the unreserved fund balance in the report includes some designated funds, including about $2 million for highways and about $1.39 million for compensated absences, among others.

What are classified as undesignated and unreserved funds include $2.2 million in the general fund and $2.2 million for social services.

Helfritz and Freeborn County Administrator John Kluever said the county’s financial state has improved each year since 2009 and the unreserved fund has grown larger.

They declined to give out the numbers for 2011 because those have not yet been audited, Kluever said.

In Mower County, revenues were listed at $38.8 million, and expenditures were listed as $47.8 million, with an unreserved fund balance of $26.5 million.

Mower County had about $25 million in total bond debt that year.

Across the state, the trends found in the report include the following:

 

Current trends

• Minnesota county revenues totaled $5.8 billion in 2010. This represents an increase of $75.1 million or $1.3 percent over 2009.

• Counties reported total expenditures of $6 billion in 2010. This represents an increase of $161.4 million or 2.8 percent over total expenditures in 2009.

• In 2010, Minnesota counties reported outstanding long-term debt of $3.5 billion. This represents an increase of 3.4 percent over long-term debt reported in 2009.

• The operating income of Minnesota county enterprises totaled $34.9 million in 2010. The net income of county enterprises totaled $56.1 million in 2010.

• In 2010, Minnesota counties’ unreserved fund balances of General Funds and Special Revenue Funds totaled $2.3 billion. This represents an increase of 3.7 percent over 2009 unreserved fund balances. The average unreserved fund balances as a percent of current expenditures for counties decreased from 48.3 percent in 2009 to 47.2 percent in 2010.

 

Ten-year trends

• In actual dollars, total revenues rose 33.9 percent from 2001 to 2010. When converted to constant dollars, there was a decrease of 4.9 percent over this period.

• Since 2002, the share of total revenues derived from taxes has increased from 35.7 percent to 45.6 percent, while the share of total revenues derived from state grants has decreased from 34.8 percent to 24.2 percent.

• When adjusted for inflation, total county expenditures decreased 2.8 percent from 2001 to 2010. In actual dollars, expenditures increased 36.9 percent.

• When adjusted for inflation, outstanding long-term indebtedness grew 53.8 percent between 2001 and 2010. In actual dollars, long-term debt increased 116.6 percent over this period.

The full report can be downloaded at www.osa.state.mn.us.