Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
County commissioners continue to work on the 2018 county budget after a revised preliminary general fund expenditure list was presented Monday during the second part of a public hearing led by County Administrative Director Gary Petrovich.
Noting that the numbers have changed since the Oct. 2 first session of the hearing, Petrovich pointed out the new general fund spending total is $15,902,000, a decrease from $15,960,000.
The budget deficit has been reduced from $102,714 to $44,673.
The budget changes are attributed to the drop in payroll for expenses with the retirement of Fair Director and Facilities Manager Bob Reynolds and subsequent resignations by two employees of the fair office.
The positions have been consolidated with assignments to employees already on the county payroll.
Bill Tensfeld, emergency services director, has been assigned administration tasks for the fair, facilities and parks. He has made some staff rearrangements to cover some duties while looking to possibly hire another member of the staff.
“I’m juggling things between facilities and the fair office,” Tensfeld said.
“This is a unique, one-time situation,” Petrovich explained.
The general fund’s new projected deficit total did not include a county employees’ medical payment increase approved by commissioners earlier Monday.
“I like where we’re headed,” said Commissioner Dean Kinzer. “It’s a much easier budget to work with than in the past.”
Commissioners raised capped medical payments from $695 per employee per month to $775 for qualifying employees. Payments go to the Washington Counties Insurance pool fund.
The change, which was made to account for rising health insurance prices, will raise Whitman County general fund expenditures by $92,000. In turn, if no other changes are made, it would put the budget deficit back up to $136,000.
The commissioners will have to produce a balanced budget by the Dec. 31 deadline.
Commissioners are expected to adopt a budget at their next regular meeting Oct. 30.
“I think we’ve largely got the biggest items figured out,” said Commissioner Michael Largent. “I don’t anticipate anything difficult at this juncture.”
Petrovich first presented a general fund expenditure budget to county commissioners Oct. 2.
The projected deficit numbers represent a steady, significant drop from previous years.
Petrovich’s 2018 preliminary budget includes an increase of $50,000 for restricted reserve funds.
The two types of reserve funds (within the general fund) are restrictive reserve and operating reserve. Restrictive is used for emergencies such as a natural disasters. Operating reserve is used for unexpected events which are not emergencies. An example would be for the coroner’s office, if more deaths happen in a given year than expected.
The 2018 budget process began in June when commissioners sent a letter to all department heads and elected officials outlining what they hoped to see.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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