b'III. FINANCIAL RESERVES POLICIESIn 2014 the County adopted a General Fund Balance Policy. It is found in Beaufort Countys Code of Ordinances Section 2-403through 2-405.A. General Fund Reserve Policy1. The County will establish and maintain an unassigned General Fund Reserve to pay for needs caused by unforeseen emergencies.This reserve will be maintained within a range of seventeen percent (17%, approximately two months of operations) and thirty percent(30%) of the total General Fund expenditures for the previous scal year and will be measured at the end of each scal year.2. The General Fund Reserve balance should only be used in certain limited situations such as to stabilize revenues, mitigate a projecteddecit in the current operating period, retire or defease outstanding bonds or notes of the County, fund one-time or unanticipatedexpenditures, and pay judgments or otherwise settle legal disputes and claims.3. Any action that results in reducing the General Fund Reserve balance below the seventeen percent (17%, approximately two monthsof operations) threshold shall contain a provision specically authorizing the use of such funds.4. The County Administrator or Finance Director shall inform the Council, with as much advance time as may be practical under thecircumstances, whenever the County has obligations that would reasonably be expected to result in the General Fund balance todecline below the minimum seventeen percent (17%, approximately two months of operations) threshold.5. At any time that the Council determines that the use of the General Fund Reserve balance within the seventeen (17%, approximatelytwo months of operations) to thirty percent (30%) range is needed for one or more of the reasons provided for in this section, theCouncil shall, by ordinance, authorize the use of such reserves.6. At no time shall County Council take action which shall have the eect of reducing the General Fund balance to an amount belowseventeen percent (17%, approximately two months of operations) of total General Fund expenditures for the previous scal yearwithout rst declaring that an emergency exists within the County thereby necessitating the use of such funds.7. Beaufort County shall, during the August through October hurricane season, maintain available cash and/or cash equivalents readilyavailable equal to a minimum of seventeen (17%, approximately two months of operations) of the General Fund Appropriation.Funding sources may include, but are not limited to, credit instruments, bond anticipation notes and tax anticipation notes.8. The General Fund Reserve balance should be reported to County Council quarterly and be reviewed annually or as needed.B. Debt Service Fund Reserve Policy1.The County will conne long-term borrowing to capital improvement or projects that cannot be paid for from currentrevenues or fund balance except where approved justication is provided.2.The County will utilize a balanced approach to capital funding utilizing debt nancing, draws on capital reserves and/or fundbalances in excess of policy targets, and current-year (pay-as-you-go) appropriations.3.When the County nances capital improvements or other projects by issuing bonds or entering into capital leases, it willrepay the debt within a period not to exceed the expected useful life of the project. Target debt ratios will be calculated atleast every two years and included in the review of nancial trends.4.Where feasible, the County will explore the usage of special assessment, revenue, or other self-supporting bonds instead ofgeneral obligation bonds.5.PriortotheissuanceofnewGeneralObligation(GO)debt,considerationshallbegiventoforecastedtaxraterequirements, ratio of net GO debt to assessed taxable value, net GO debt per capita, and debt service payments toGeneral Fund operating budget.6.Direct net debt as a percentage of total market value of taxable property should not exceed 2.5%. Direct net debt is denedas all debt issued in accordance with Article X, Section 14, Paragraph 7(a) of the South Carolina Constitution, an amountnot exceeding eight percent (8%) of the assessed value of all taxable property of such political subdivision.7.The ratio of direct debt service expenditures as a percent of total governmental fund expenditures will be targeted to remainat or below 15.0% but in any case should not exceed 18.0%.8.The County recognizes the importance of underlying and overlapping debt in analyzing nancial condition. The County willregularly analyze total indebtedness including underlying and overlapping debt.9.The County may employ municipal nance professionals to assist in developing a bond issuance strategy, preparing bonddocuments, and marketing bonds to investors.10.The County shall use theAnnual Comprehensive Financial Report (the ACFR) as the disclosure document for meeting itsnancial reporting obligations.Beaufort County, SC | Budget Book 2024 Page 26'