County facing shortage as reserves empty out

Worcester Treasurer Phil Thompson was not expecting applause after his presentation of the fiscal 2015-2017 county revenue report last Thursday. Good thing, too, because his presentation painted a less-than-rosy picture.

Fiscal 2015, for instance, had general fund expenditures of $178 million. To cover that bill, the county had to take $6.4 million from a rainy day fund created during the real estate boom to cover shortages.

The projected 2016 budget, however, would need to take the remaining $10.5 million in that fund, known formally as the budget stabilization fund, to get close to last year’s expenditures, at $177.8 million, or about $500,000 less.

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