Warren County Fiscal Court has approved first reading of a roughly $49.1 million budget for next fiscal year.

The proposed budget, if approved by the state and passed on second reading, would represent an almost $10 million increase over last year’s $39.6 million budget.

This increase, according to county Treasurer Greg Burrell, is mainly due to the issuance of bonds that will be used to finance two gyms being built in Buchanon and Ephram White parks.

“The major increase is the bond proceeds for the park projects, so that’s going to be anywhere from $7.5 million to $8 million,” he said. “We haven’t had it underwritten yet because we’re still deciding, I mean, you have to have the exact amount, the exact term of the bond, all that, before you can actually go through the underwriting process.”

The bonds are budgeted for $7 million, which Burrell said is because the county has already spent roughly $500,000 on construction of the gyms.

The county will have to make a principal payment and two interest payments each year over the course of 20 to 25 years to pay back the bonds, he said, adding that he’d prefer the county go with a 20-year plan because that timeframe would accrue less interest.

“We’ve still got the flexibility to decide whether our cash flow will allow 20 or 25,” he said.

The proposed budget, which would go into affect July 1, the start of the next fiscal year, also provides an additional $417,578 to the Parks Department maintenance and ground salaries for operating and maintaining the new gyms.

“We’ve got to hire 10 new employees to staff both gyms, there’s equipment, there’s supplies, there’s general maintenance, insurance, you’ve got a multitude of things that are, I guess, considered overhead for the two new gyms that are going to increase our budget,” Burrell said.

Historically, the Parks Department’s budget has been small, he said.

“The Parks budget has been underfunded for years and years,” he said, adding that there was an interest in providing more for the department.

“We still don’t (give) them enough money to fully operate with what they need but they run such a tight operation, they just do without for the most part,” he said.

Other increases in the budget have mainly been due to a rise in spending on benefits like retirement, health insurance and Social Security for county employees, Burrell said.

“It’s been trending that direction for the last several years so it wasn’t anything originally unexpected. It’s still an added cost.”

A replacement of the Warren County Regional Jail’s roof, estimated to cost nearly $217,000, is also in the budget.

After the first reading of the proposed budget was approved, Judge-Executive Mike Buchanon expressed satisfaction with the budget and the fact that the roughly $10 million increase had nothing to do with an increase in taxes.

“Just for the record, this is a balanced budget then and does not require additional levy(ing) of taxes,” he said.

Buchanon also said he was happy that the county was able to give Parks more attention.

“I’m very proud we were able to put a little bit more money toward the Parks Department this year, which they have needed for many years,” he said. “I know they’re good stewards of every dime that’s spent at the County Parks Department and it makes a difference in the lives of not only the families now but how the kids turn out later on in life.”