Local Government Fund update

The Senate begins its consideration of the budget today. 

This spreadsheet outlines the best and worst case scenarios for each city’s Local Government Fund allocation based on the version of the budget approved last week by the Senate Finance committee. After the full Senate debates the budget this week, the House and Senate then must iron out any differences in their two versions. The final budget likely won’t be signed by the Governor until June. 

This spreadsheet is intended to show only the city portion of the total Local Government Fund allocations based on the Senate Finance Committee report. Explanations of amounts included in each column are as follows:

• Column A -  total of recurring and non-recurring dollar
• Column B - additional dollars included by proviso that will be allocated if state revenues come in above expectation. This amount is not guaranteed
• Column C – total allocation of recurring, non-recurring and the surplus dollars (this is the same total dollar amount as approved by the House and equals the LGF in the current fiscal year)
• Column D – allocation required by law

Total Local Government Fund allocations (city and county) for the House version of the budget and for the Senate Finance committee version of the budget are illustrated below:

		House	Senate Finance Cmt
	Total allocation	$182.6 M	$182.6 M
	recurring	$5M	$5M
	non-recurring	$25M	$9 M
	surplus		$16M

During the Senate Finance committee debate last week, there was considerable debate regarding funding priorities related to the LGF. An editorial in today's State paper points out the challenges created when the legislature doesn't fully fund the Local Government Fund. Also similar points are made in an editorial from the Spartanburg Herald Journal.

Contact Melissa Carter at 803.933.1251 or mcarter@masc.sc with questions about the Local Government Fund.