County approves $25.8 million general fund budget | Local

Expenses are up primarily due to an increase in capital projects, Obermueller said. The county budgeted $8.24 million in capital projects this year, compared to just $1.81 million in the previous fiscal year, which ended June 30.

The capital projects are a way for the county to utilize an influx of federal American Rescue Plan Act dollars it has received over the last fiscal year, Obermueller said.

Other projects include the creation of a new coroner’s office, an interior renovation of the county’s justice office and the installation of multiple backup generators at various county facilities.

In addition to capital projects, the county remains committed to retaining staff, which led to numerous increases in salaries and benefits this fiscal year.

“We’re a service industry,” Obermueller said. “We can’t do anything without our people…We have the same struggles any other business does: finding labor, keeping labor and being competitive in the market. And I think we’ve done a good job of showing our appreciation to our staff and trying to stay within the margin of the market so we don’t lose them. There’s a cost to that, but there’s a cost to not having enough people to provide the service to the public as well.”

The county will spend $11.6 million on salaries and benefits with the former budgeted at $8.1 million and the latter budgeted at $3.5 million, Obermueller said. In total, salaries and benefits will make up 78% of the county’s general fund budget.

In fiscal year 2022, the county spent $10.5 million —  or 60% of the budget — on salaries and benefits, with the former budgeted at $7.3 million and the later budgeted at $3.2 million.

Employee health benefits increased by 5% while dental benefits increased by 7.5%, Obermueller said. The county also approved an annual market adjustment to salaries, which will increase pay by 4%.

Revenues are expected to increase, which is partially due to the federal ARPA dollars and partially because of a robust year for local funding, Obermuelller said. Sales tax collections increased by 15.9% in fiscal year 2022, and the county assumes that rate of increase will remain steady in the current fiscal year.

The $3.23 million difference between the $22.57 million in projected revenues and $25.8 million in projected expenses will be made up by utilizing cash on hand, Obermueller said. The county’s cash on hand is expected to decrease from the current $4.3 million to $1.07 million by the end of the fiscal year.

The county continues to have a large general fund reserve, which currently sits around $18 million and can be utilized in times of need.

During a public hearing on the budget Monday, several commissioners said they were pleased with the budget and its focus on people and projects.

“It appears we’re in pretty good shape,” Commissioner Terry Cram said. “We’ve had this capital projects list of things we’ve needed to get done, and we’re getting them all done. It’s a work in progress, but we’re getting there.”

“We’re very fortunate to have a solid income this year so we can balance the budget and give a slight bump to our employees and make our county stronger,” Commissioner Nick Siddle said.