County Council members conducted Budget Hearings on Tuesday. The daylong event gives department heads and elected officials a chance to explain the changes in their budgets.
Request for 2015 budget were $9,041,321 while estimated revenues are expected to be $8,725,243 leaving the need to reduce the budget requests from $316,000.
Council members listened as various departments heads explained their requests for new equipment, vehicles, personnel and software.
While preparing the budget County Auditor Penny Lukenbill saw several places when the Council could begin making cuts. The commissioners supported her recommendations which included: removing the HR Deputy from the Auditor’s budget and leave it in the Commissioner’s budget so the positions would not be changed when department heads change. This saves $34,814 in next year’s budget. The Council also told the surveyor to purchase his new vehicle out of the 2014 budget verses the 2015 budget saving $25,000. Other recommendations include reducing the Prosecutor’s office manager by $990 and have the secretaries and deputy prosecutor’s salaries by supplemented by the 4D and pre-trial diversion funds.
The Auditor suggested reducing the election board budget by $37,575 since it will only be city and town elections, take $10,000 for the part time maintenance line item in the building and grounds department, and reducing court appointed doctors and maintenance contracts in the Superior Court I budget saving $2,500 and taking $3,000 from clerical in the Superior Court II budget. The final recommendation was to remove the new probation officer at a cost of $31,456. All in all the recommendation would save a total of $197,000 leaving approximately $119,000 to still cut.
The County Council will make their cuts to the 2015 budget during budget adoption on September 8th.
