Repairs of the jail plumbing, upgrades of the 911 system, the development of a recreation program, and increased costs of about ten percent for property/ liability insurance and worker’s comp are all built into the recently released Jefferson County budget for the coming year.
Overall, the general fund budget will increase by $2.7 million from the previous year budget, county officials said last week during the preliminary budget hearing. That represents about a 13 percent increase from the previous budget of $20,504,743.
The proposed preliminary general fund budget of $23,261,291 will be funded by approximately 112.83 mills. County Commissioner Cory Kirsch said the county could have levied 114.83 mills without a vote of the people but chose to go with less. The August 29 preliminary budget hearing attracted only two people not employed by the county, including the Monitor reporter.
In a budget message presented at that hearing, Kirsch said the only new position in the budget is a half time position for the event coordinator hired earlier this year. A few extra personnel hours in the museum budget are also included, and an increase in the position of the disaster and emergency services coordinator from half time to three-quarter time may be added if the state is willing to pay for half of the increase, he said. The district court office is also asking for about $11,600 for a part-time seasonal assistant.
Kirsch’s budget message is included in this issue of the Monitor. The commission also held public hearings on proposed expenditures for Title III funds, a 23.62 mill permissive levy for employee health insurance costs and a 1.08 mill permissive levy for the sheriff office retirement fund.
Commissioner Bob Mullen said the county has about $135,000 in Title III funds that must be encumbered by Septem- ber 30 and spent within a year or it will revert to the federal treasury.
He outlined three potential uses under consideration:
• a $75,000 mobile wood waste air burner to help the county dispose of wood waste. With an aggressive program to mitigate fire danger, especially in the Montana City area, the county is receiving increased amounts of wood waste.
• a $50,000 sign machine to create signs for roads and trails within the forest.
• a $10,000 contract with fire departments in the county to do firewise education.
Clerk and Recorder Bonnie Ramey said the permissive levy to cover employee health insurance costs is calculated based on a state formula set in fiscal year 2000. At that point the county’s base rate was $227 for an individual employee.
In the 17 years since, that has risen to $937. With 81 employees on the health insurance budget, the state formula allows the county to levy 23.62 mills for that fund, she said. “Health insurance has become such a huge part of everybody’s budget,” said Ramey. The permissive levy for the sheriff’s department retirement fund was the only portion of the budget hearings that raised some resistance.
Commissioner Mullen explained that a few years ago that retirement system went to a 20 year requirement for full retirement rather than the 25 years set for other county employees. Mullen said that system found itself in a shortfall and a new law was adopted to make up for the shortfall.
“They couldn’t fund their own retirement system, so now they’ve got us paying for it,” said Mullen. County taxpayers will pay about $31,908 into that system this fiscal year.
After closing the public hearings, the commissioners took the matters under advisement. Public comment can be accepted by the commission at any time until final budget adoption, which must be completed within 30 days of the August 29 hearing.
