Benton County offices, libraries share plans with county supervisors

VINTON — The Benton County Board of Supervisors discussed budgets for the engineer’s office, the auditor’s and elections office, the maintenance department, the county attorney and information technology and the global information system during its Jan. 27 meeting.

Budget information was also presented the by the Benton County Library Association.

Engineer Myron Parizek said there are few changes in the engineer’s budget and it is no greater than the current budget.

Kelly Henkle, of the Vinton library, met with the board for the Benton County Library Association. Henkle gave updates for the 11 public libraries in Benton County. The budget request for next year is the same as this year.

Hayley Rippel, auditor, explained plans for her office and for the primary and general elections. She also updated the board on storage of documents.

Maintenance was outlined by Rick Wood. He is budgeting for a tractor. He also discussed capital projects and foundation work.

Benton County Attorney Ray Lough explained the attorney’s budget as well as the collections department. Benton County is helping get restitution and fees for five counties, he said.

There are not many changes in the attorney’s budget, Lough said.

Supervisors also discussed changing an assistant attorney to a deputy position. The deputy’s salary would be tied to a percentage of the county attorney’s salary. Board members would like to see collections salaries in line with other county employees.

Ben Turnis explained IT/GIS. The budget stays the same, according to Turnis. He discussed the radio system, furnace controls, sheriff’s department servers and computers at the Duane Arnold Energy Center.

The supervisors’ own budget was presented by Rippel. The board discussed a wellness breakfast and quarterly department head meetings.

Historic Preservation and Benton County Volunteers will present their budgets next week.

The county discussed pictometry imagery flights which are held every five years. These images are used by the assessor’s office and for septic information.

Parizek discussed the 30th Avenue road improvement project with the City of Urbana. It is a half-mile stretch, with one side belonging to the city and the side to the county.

The city’s engineer estimated the cost at $363,000. The city is looking at asphalt for this road, which is currently seal coated. Supervisor Chairman Tracy Seeman suggested tabling a decision for two weeks.

Supervisors approved a six-month employee wage and classification change for Alyce Lynch in the auditor’s office.

Supervisors discussed health, dental and vision insurance, focusing on the county’s contribution to single and family plans. The county also offers a life insurance policy. The plans were approved as follows:

Single plan

Employee pays $99.44 a month

County pays $842.97/month

Family plan

Employee pays $389.55

County pays $1715.45

Currently the county and employees split the vision and dental plans 50/50.

Dental

Single: $23.50, each pays $11.75

Family: $56.00, each pays $28

Vision

Single: $3.09, each pays $1.54

Family: $7.89, each pays $3.95

The county appointed Jon Kaestner, Nancy Gibson, Terry Hertle, Mike Seeck, Coretta Cronbaugh and Amy Boddicker to the solid waste commission.

Final approval was given to the MidAmerican Energy Company Pipeline Inspection Certification. The reimbursement is $167,270.39.