Supervisors continue budget talks, receive three more proposals

BY BROOKS TAYLOR

Mt. Pleasant News

It?s budget season. For the Henry County supervisors, that means receiving budget presentations from each county office.

Three more county officials ? John Pullis, county conservation director; Sarah Berndt, coordinator of disability services; and Darin Stater, county attorney ? gave budget proposals during the supervisors? regular meeting Tuesday. None of the budget presentations include salaries and benefits.

Pullis? budget shows a 3.75 percent increase, he said. Largely responsible for the increase is the county?s implementation of online camping reservations next year and sending Ranger/Naturalist Trenton Hoekstra to the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy.

Due to the online reservation system, the conservation board?s budget will be increasing from $325 to $2,100, Pullis pointed out. He also asked for a $1,500 increase in the employee mileage and meals line item ($2,100 to $3,600).

The conservation director is requesting an increase of $6,000 in the employee education and training fund, due to Hoekstra?s attendance at the academy.

?Counties that have gone to online reservations really like it,? Pullis remarked. ?There will be some drastic changes (in the reservation system) that people will have to get used to?We are trying to get away from handling money in person. Anything we do (camping and fees) that requires a transaction of money will be able to be done online.?

The total conservation department budget request was $538,932.

Berndt included one more county burial expense in her budget, asking for $18,000 in the fund in fiscal 2016 as opposed to $16,000 in the current year. Counties are not obligated by the state to provide funds for indigent burials, but Henry County has allocated $2,000 per burial for a long time. In December, Berndt reported that the fund was in danger of being exhausted this fiscal year. ?This (increase in burial expenses) may not be enough, but it does provide us with funds for one more burial,? she said.

Despite the increased funding for burials, Berndt?s general assistance budget asking showed a decrease from $46,000 to $45,400. Her substance abuse services budget also showed a drop from $45,784 to $36,245. The decline was largely due in the amount budgeted for substance abuse because Berndt said the county was not using close to the $20,000 budgeted. Her budget shows $10,000 allocated for substance abuse in fiscal 2017.

County Attorney Darin Stater is asking for a budget increase of $7,000 to fund the salary for a part-time person. Stater said his office has a backlog of work due to the conversion to an electronic filing system of court documents, which has been mandated by the state.

?I think that will cover it for now,? Stater commented. ?It (electronic filing) has been very stressful. It slows everything down. What used to take 30 minutes now takes 90 minutes.?

In addition to the budget presentations, the board also received Henry County Engineer Jake Hotchkiss? weekly report. Hotchkiss said his department is still working on improving gravel roads after recent snow and ice storms. ?We spent time last week pushing the wind rows (on gravel roads) as far back as possible in anticipation of rain and then cut holes in the wind rows.?

The engineer said the contract on the 220th Street reconstruction project (from U.S. Highway 34/218 bypass to Racine Avenue) has been signed. Hotchkiss plans to meet with the contractor soon to set up a timeline for the project, which will begin this spring.

He also plans two bid-lettings in March. One is grading work on a two-mile stretch of 260th Street and the other is replacing two culverts at the intersection of Hickory Avenue and 140th Street.

Supervisors meet again in regular session on Thursday, Jan. 14, at 9 a.m., in the courthouse.