Commissioners Approve County Budget

The Board of County Commissioners approved an estimated $10 million budget for the 2015-16 fiscal year on Wed., Sept. 9.

Of that total, 40 percent will come from taxes, while the remaining 60 will arrive via government Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) on federal land, various grants, and and miscellaneous fines and fees, per Chairman Bruce Peterson.

The increase from 2014-15 budget, Peterson notes, will be covered through “cash carryover, for lack of a better term.” Because the county does not collect taxes until some five months into its calendar, a 15-20 percent reserve fund is usually held to caulk the temporary void.

Peterson, however, notes the surplus to have consistently shrunk over the past five years, and that the only way to address the budgetary rise if the amount of money in the county coffers falls short of need is by “cutting people or services, or raising taxes.” 

The county may increase taxes up to half of the 3-year CPI (consumer price index) average — a 3 percent CPI, for example, would allow for a 1.5 percent hike — an amount which pales in comparison to the total funding needed to balance the books.

Any tax raise beyond this established limit must be approved by public vote, a route Peterson notes worked well for the library in its aim to modernize its facilities and add to its collection of reading material, but has failed others, notably the fire department. On Sept. 8, the Glasgow City Council tabled an effort to raise funds for a $350,000 truck.

“We do the best we can to spend as wisely as we can,” says Peterson. “People don’t agree sometimes on what that means.”

Also decided at the meeting was the motion to hire a full-time Deputy County Attorney at $50,000 per annum. The measure passed by a 2-1 vote.

“It’s a good deal,” said Peterson, who was the lone dissenter. “Lawyers can be pretty expensive. I’m just concerned about where that money will come from.”