Sussex County Council, at its Jan. 26, 2016, meeting, received statements for Fiscal Year 2015 that showed the governmental unit posting a surplus.
The report was audited by BDO USA, LLP, a firm of licensed certified public accountants. The financial report is presented annually to detail the county government’s finances for the previous fiscal year.
For Fiscal Year 2015, Sussex County ended the fiscal year overall with $4,009,295 in revenues over expenditures, giving the county its sixth year in a row with a financial gain.
The boost was fueled by an increase of approximately $1.5 million in building-related revenue and an uptick in realty transfer tax revenues, as well as a sharp drop in capital spending as several county construction projects were completed during the past year.
The county will set aside the added revenue in the county’s capital fund for future projects.
While the overall revenue number was up, the county’s operating, or general fund, portion of the Fiscal Year 2015 budget will record a loss of $402,905. That’s the result of the County transferring $6.2 million for future capital projects.
The realty transfer tax, the 3 percent levy on all property sales, remains one of the county’s most significant revenue streams. The tax resulted in $22.2 million in fiscal 2015. That was $1.3 million above the previous year. The tax is again budgeted to generate at least $16 million in fiscal 2016.