Editors Note: This article was originally published in the Dec. 13, 2023 issue of the Chronicle Progress. Some information may be outdated.
Auditor says $34,150,525 budgeted for 2024 across all county funds
County commissioners hosted a public hearing last week concerning the county’s 2024 budget, which the commission is expected to adopt at its Dec. 19 meeting.
A tentative budget was approved by commissioners on Oct. 31 after a series of workshops. An updated version was posted on the county auditor’s webpage Nov. 22.
County Auditor Bonnie Smith noted a few further changes to the proposed budget were made even after the last tentative budget was made public.
“There’s a couple things we discovered,” she said.
For example, the county received an invoice detailing its worker’s compensation insurance costs after the tentative budget was completed that represented an annual increase of $32,300.
She said that figure is likely to increase even further since some county departments, it was discovered, had not figured in the insurance costs in their own detailed budgets.
Smith said an error in the tourism budget was also discovered after the tentative budget was completed. An ATV entry that should have been only $500 was entered as $50,000.
“We fixed that,” Smith said.
The auditor said the budget was also slightly adjusted to reflect recent health insurance changes made by some county employees during the current open enrollment period.
A few final budget figures will also include some estimates based on state grant funding and rollovers for projects funded using federal dollars, including those using remaining American Rescue Plan Act funds, money the federal government allocated to ease the effects of the 2020 pandemic.
Smith said the biggest change in the final budget would be an increase in the general fund of about $200,000, which was not reflected in the earlier tentative budget.
Smith said by way of a general narrative about next year’s budget is the county’s enterprise funds will be paying a 3 percent administrative fee next year to the general fund. These are charges to cover a variety of administrative costs, such as legal, banking, IT, Human Resources and insurance premiums borne by the general fund. Enterprise funds typically pay for themselves through various fees collected, such as the landfill fund.
Another area where fees and other changes will increase revenue is in the county’s recreation fund. Commissioners agreed to raise recreation fees by about 7 percent, Smith said. Golf courses, for example, are estimated to generate an additional $30,000 to $35,000 next year, she said during the Dec. 5 hearing. Parks and pools should generate an additional $15,000 to $20,000.
The auditor’s budget presentation also noted the county’s planned capital projects in 2024. A Notch Peak communications tower, for example, will cost $100,000. A rooftop HVAC job for the county’s public safety building is estimated to cost just under $50,000. The county will spend about $400,000 on law enforcement vehicles, including lease replacements.
A few notable personnel changes will have a slight budget impact next year, increasing costs in some departments and lessening them in others.
For example, the county’s HR director, Jacob Nelson, will be taking on new responsibilities as a county operations and administration manager with a requisite salary increase, Smith said. Maintenance department supervisors will be consolidated into one supervisor position, saving the county approximately $70,000 in wages and benefits.
Tourism will no longer have a full-time director, Smith said, saving the county about $80,000.
As for salary changes all county employees will receive a 2 percent wage increase next year, ostensibly to counter inflation. Employees enjoyed substantial raises last year after commissioners saw the completion of a salary study.
Step and grade increases will continue apace next year, Smith said. Also, raises based on performance will be implemented upon completion of a satisfactory evaluation and when certain objective goals are met. Those performance bonuses could be between 2 and 5 percent depending on how much each department has allocated to fund those, Smith said.
About $43,000 was earmarked to help retain EMS volunteers next year, as well, the auditor said.
“Another good point, in summary to our general fund, is our budgeted transfer for priority of fund balances is $1.2 million. That’s down $1 million from last year. I’m really happy to report that the 2023 budgeted $2.2 million transfers were not necessarily needed due to the current revenue right now, due to sales tax collections,” Smith reported.
No members of the public commented during the short hearing.
Commissioner Bill Wright praised county department heads for being vigilant with taxpayer funds. He noted the amount of money the U.S. typically spends on international aid. He said poor government in other countries is the reason such expenses are incurred.
“Look at what we spend in the world for poor government. For people who can’t manage, for people who don’t know truth and fairness. How prosperous would this world be if we didn’t have poor government?” he asked before opening the hearing.
He went on to thank county officials for contributing to good government efforts locally.
Smith ended the meeting saying total spending in 2024 would amount to about $34,150,525.
The county’s tentative budget can be viewed by visiting millardcounty.org/your-government/elected-officials/ auditor/budgets/
