By JONATHAN ZWEYGARDT
Hays Post
After looking at the expected expenditures for 2018, Ellis County Administrator Phillip Smith-Hanes said the county commission and taxpayers “will be pleased.”
The commission heard from seven department heads who submitted their budgets at the commission’s final special budget work session meeting Thursday.
“Given where we are in terms of expenditures and then the increase in oil the valuations for this year, I believe that we will be able to fund everything you have seen with a constant mill levy,” Smith-Hanes said.
The majority of the budgets presented in the two meetings have only minor increases, with a few departments requesting a decrease in funding for 2018.
The commissioners praised the department heads for their efforts in keeping increases in their budgets to a minimum.
“I am deeply grateful to the department heads because they really toed the line and really are working to keep their costs down,” said Commissioner Barb Wasinger.
She added the “lion’s share” of the increases are due to increases in employee insurance. Smith-Hanes informed the commission at the previous budget meeting that insurance increases will be between 9.5 percent and 10.5 percent for 2018.
The commission also praised the work of Smith-Hanes in helping to improve teamwork among departments and his work on the 2018 budget.
“What I have gotten from feedback is that most of the department heads feel that we are all on the same team,” Wasinger said. “We didn’t necessarily always feel that way.”
Among the largest budget request increase presented on Thursday was a more than $20,000 increase in the county coroner’s budget from $71,702 to $92,490.
Smith-Hanes said the county is spending more on doctor and professional fees. Doctor fees pay for autopsies, according to Smith-Hanes, and the salaries that are paid to the coroner and the deputy coroner pay for them to investigate the manner of death and to sign to death certificate.
The salaries, he added, have not been adjusted in a number of years.
The commission also talked with the District Court about updating the former Clerk of the Court office on the third floor of the courthouse for another courtroom.
Court Administrator Amanda Truan told the commission there were some things that did not get finished during the courthouse remodel. One of those was another courtroom on the third floor.
Because of the increased caseloads, the court has been using that office as another courtroom and wants to finish updating it.
Truan suggested they pay for the upgrades using a portion of the money the county gets from bond forfeitures. The county receives 40 percent of those dollars, and the court would like to use a portion of that to finish furnishing the room. Truan said the room needs blinds and recording software.
She said this month there was a $20,000 bond forfeiture — $12,000 of which goes to the state with the remainder going to Ellis County. The District Court requested $4,000 to finish the renovation of the office into an additional courtroom.
Because the county does not have budget authority in 2017, Smith-Hanes said the commission can designate $4,000 for the capital outlay to go to the court system. The county will begin transferring 50 percent of the money it receives from bond forfeitures to the District Court in 2018.
The commission will get valuation figures next month and continue the budget process in August.