Health inspector, auditor address supervisors

By Andy Hallman

The JOURNAL

The Washington County Supervisors continued their budget meetings Tuesday afternoon. Environmental Health Director Jeff Thomann said his re-estimated budget for the current fiscal year (2010-2011) is about $270,000. Thomann requested a budget of about $237,000 for the upcoming fiscal year.

Thomann asked the supervisors to raise the salary of Jennine Wolf, the assistant sanitarian. Thomann also wants to re-classify Wolf?s job from assistant sanitarian to senior environmental specialist. Wolf would no longer be eligible for overtime and she would have additional responsibilities. Thomann said that Wolf makes about $39,500 with overtime now. He asked the supervisors to pay her a salary of $43,000.

Thomann said Wolf will be able to step into his job if he?s gone. He said she does not currently have the power to do that, but she will under the new job classification. Thomann said Wolf is certified by the state to do food inspection and has won awards for the job she?s done.

?We need to treat her as the health professional that she is,? said Thomann. ?This is the caliber of person I?d want to hire if I were hiring new.?

The supervisors asked Thomann how he settled on the number of $43,000. Thomann said he looked at the salaries of similarly qualified sanitarians in other counties.

Supervisor Ron Bennett asked Thomann if Wolf would work more hours. Thomann said she probably would not, although she would have more responsibilities.

?She has made this county a safe place to enjoy food,? said Thomann. ?She?s done 187 hand-washing demonstrations since 2002. She?s done 49 serve-safe courses, too.?

Thomann said his office has a program to teach hand-washing to children through the use of a ?glo-germ? machine.

Supervisor Wes Rich asked Thomann if he would consider revising the proposed salary. Thomann said the board of health has reviewed his budget and given its approval. The supervisors asked if Thomann would accept a 2 percent increase to Wolf?s salary instead. He said he would take that back to the board of health for further review.

County Auditor Bill Fredrick was the next in line to present a budget. Fredrick said his department will see more revenue next year because of the income from school and city elections. He said he?s able to recover some costs from those elections by charging the school and city for the ballots and a few other things. He said the county doesn?t recoup any of its expenses for a county election.

Fredrick also spoke about a special election for a physical plant levy. He hopes the county opts for paper ballots instead of using the optical-scan equipment, as a way to save money. He said it would be more work for himself and his employees but the county would save money on programming costs.

Fredrick also spoke about the expense of sending out voter registration cards to everyone in the county. He said the county mails out about 15,000 voter registration postcards that are non-forwardable. Then, the county sends out another round of postcards to those who did not receive a postcard the first time, and these postcards are forwardable. Finally, the county sends the voter registration card itself through the mail. Fredrick said this whole process costs about $6,000.

The supervisors also spoke about the need to purchase aerial maps. Fredrick said the last aerial photos were taken in 1997. He said new developments such as the Riverside Casino and Timber Ridge are not on the county?s maps.

The auditor?s expenses are expected to go from $450,000 in the current fiscal year to $483,000 next year. Fredrick said that while his election-related budget is higher than last year, his non-election budget ?didn?t rise a percent.? He said there isn?t much he can do to control election costs.

?There?s nothing optional about an election,? he said.