County Fund Balance

The fund balance of the General Fund is broken down into classifications designed to disclose the hierarchy of constraints placed on how fund balance can be spent.  

RESTRICTED - Restricted by outside sources and cannot be spent outside of the specific purpose

COMMITTED - Committed by Board of County Commissioner action and requires board action to remove commitment

ASSIGNED - Assigned by Board of County Commissioner action but does not require board action to revoke commitment

There is a myth that the state requires local governments to have 8% fund balance available in the general fund.  There is no minimum level of fund balance available required by state statute.  However, if a county has a fund balance available that is significantly below that of its peers and/or trending lower over time, the county may be considered for inclusion on the Unit Assistance List by the Local Government Commission.  As indicated by the NC Department of State Treasurer, "an 8% fund balance available represents approximately one month of expenditures and likely does not represent sufficient reserves to provide cash flow during periods of declining revenues, or to be used for emergencies and unforeseen expenditures".

The Iredell County Board of County Commissioners has given directive that undesignated fund balance, or available fund balance, should remain at 18% of the budgeted expenditures or higher.