The general fund appropriations were approved at $42.98 million, a 2.64 percent increase over 2022. The appropriations for all funds totaled $141.86 million.
Among commission goals has been increasing employee salaries to make the county more competitive in the job market.
For example, the commission earlier in the week approved a new three-year contract with the union representing sheriff’s corrections officers and secretaries. The package included a $1.50 per hour increase, along with 3 percent pay increases in 2023-2025. Discussion was held earlier Thursday about increasing pay for development department employees.
“We are getting very close to finishing those out,” Commission President Ted Mercer said of the pay rate efforts.
Commissioners said they think those increases have had a positive impact. Commissioner Wade Westfall said turnover among sheriff’s deputies, whose salaries were addressed in 2021, had turned around.
The county Board of Elections in November voted to approve a 5 percent pay increase for staff in 2023, following increases of 7.5 percent in both 2021 and 2022 coupled with the increases approved by the commission of 4 percent and 3 percent in 2022 and 2021.
The elections board was working to bring pay for the director and deputy director more in line with operations in similar counties, said Dave Fisher, elections board chairman. Before the arrival of Director Laura Bruns in 2019 and Deputy Director Ian Ridgeway in 2018, the office leadership “was a revolving door,” he said.
With their budget vote, the commission agreed the 4 percent would not be added to the elections’ office budget for next year, and earlier notified Fisher of that decision, Mercer said. A couple of other departments where pay increase plans already were implemented would not receive the 4 percent in addition in 2023 and have been notified, he said. Fisher discussed the commission decision Thursday with fellow elections board members.
The commissioners thanked other elected officials and department heads for cooperation in developing the budget. The auditor’s office team was involved more extensively in discussions than in the past, Mercer said.
Commissioner Greg Simmons said this was his sixth year voting on a budget. “This was, at least for me, one of the most challenging budget seasons we have had since I have been here,” Simmons said. Among contributing factors was working with the American Rescue Plan Act , or ARPA, funding that is bringing more than $20 million to the county over two years.
Revenue-wise, the county sales tax has been strong this year despite a small recent downward trend. An increase of at least 10 percent overall is anticipated for the year, commissioners said.
The commission each year sets aside a portion of the county sales tax income for capital improvements. That percentage now is 10 percent, set in 2021.
The plan lists possible funding for some projects from other sources such as the ARPA money and special project/computer funds.
Next year is the first for the separate capital improvement plan. It was reviewed separately last month with the focus on the first and second year projects. Charlotte Colley, the commissioners’ administrator, helped coordinate the plan, saying the plan was among goals identified when she was hired in 2021.
Among the capital improvement projects planned for 2023 and 2024 are about $4 million for renovations at the courthouse and $1.5 million for reconstruction of the engineer’s salt building.
Contact this contributing writer at nancykburr@aol.com
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