As the Allegany County Commissioners contemplate a tough budget year, the refinements of the proposed budget continue. This week, the Cumberland Times-News reports:

The commissioners approved several revisions to the proposed budget at their public meeting Thursday, including the distribution of more than $1.2 million in disparity grant funding to be divided with $775,000 for county road repairs, $250,000 for municipal street repairs and $241,756 reserved in anticipation of future cuts from the state.

The commissioners had discussed the grant funding allocations during their April 29 public meeting, when County Finance Director Jerry Frantz recommended setting aside the reserve amount.

The county’s first public budget hearing was April 15 and the commissioners are slated to approve the budget by May 27. The projected budget will increase by $1,713,949 from the current fiscal year to $83,188,108.

The changes also include adjustments to the budget contingency fund to restore the allocations for the Greater Cumberland Regional Airport to $5,000; Allegany Arts Council to $2,500; and Cumberland Theatre to $1,000. This will bring these allocations back up to their 2010 levels, negating cuts made in the initial budget proposal.

Various other budget changes include an adjustment in funding for Program Open Space to $411,387 to account for an increase in revenue; $8,572 for full-time security at the County Office Complex; a $41,666 decrease to the Election Office because there will be no retirement payout; $5,400 for poll worker staffing; and $26,000 for tax increment financing in Frostburg.

“These are just items that we were reviewing in the budget that need to be corrected,” said Frantz.

Initial projections for the fiscal 2011 budget featured one of the lowest increases in the general fund budget in the past seven years at 0.4 percent. Issues leading to this include a lack of highway user funding and other funding cuts from the state, decreased revenue and increased expenditures.