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Delta County Board gets look at proposed budget

ESCANABA — In preparation for Delta County’s 2019-20 fiscal year, outgoing Delta County Administrator Philip Strom delivered a presentation on the county’s proposed budget for the new fiscal year Wednesday. The presentation took place during a meeting of the Delta County Board of Commissioners.

Strom said finishing a rough draft of the county’s 2019-20 budget before he left and part-time interim administrator Tom Sabor took over was a high priority for him.

“I wanted to get this done so I could hand it off to Tom and he could tweak it with the board’s input before Sept. 30 and then we can get it adopted,” he said.

However, he said the version of the budget discussed Wednesday is far from finished.

“Big disclaimer — it is likely to change, because we have the rest of August and the rest of September for Mr. Sabor and the department heads to identify any unanticipated costs for next year, any unanticipated revenues, and make these tweaks,” Strom said.

He noted the board will likely be presented with a slightly different version of the county’s 2019-20 budget at its Sept. 3 meeting and will be asked to approve the final budget at its Sept. 17 meeting.

Strom’s presentation included information on the general fund, airport fund, building & zoning fund and road patrol fund budgets proposed for the new fiscal year. The county’s proposed 2019-20 general fund budget was listed as $10,538,769, an increase of $123,368 from the amended 2018-19 general fund budget of $10,415,401.

“In part, that’s due to anticipated property tax value increases and jail operating expenditures,” Strom said.

The proposed airport fund budget was listed as $1,207,300, a $934,758 decrease from the current budget of $2,142,058; the proposed building & zoning fund budget was listed as $200,174, a $21,289 decrease from the current budget of $221,463; and the proposed road patrol fund budget was listed as $1,842,750, a $268,801 increase from the current budget of $1,573,949.

Earlier in Strom’s presentation, he shared his financial goals for Delta County’s 2019-20 budget. These goals were to protect the county’s financial reserves, have a predictable budget performance, maintain the county’s existing services and increase security at the Delta County Courthouse.

“These have changed a little bit over the years, but in general, they remain somewhat consistent,” Strom said of the goals.

Strom shared a proposed three-year plan that could be used to enhance courthouse security during his presentation. The plan calls for part-time deputy security officers to be introduced in 2020 at a cost of $50,000 and for the development of plans and drawings for an improved centralized/secured courthouse entrance later in the year.

“I don’t know how much this is going to cost — you’d have to do (a request for qualifications) for a design to get that,” he said of the latter item.

In 2021, the plan calls for building and infrastructure improvements to take place at the courthouse, including about $30,000 worth of equipment. Strom noted the equipment may be eligible for Michigan Municipal Risk Management Authority Risk Avoidance Program grants.

“Those aren’t the big legacy costs — it’s the personnel that it’s going to take to operate those, and that will be your big cost in Year Three,” he said.

The plan calls for $100,000 to fund additional personnel at the courthouse in its third year.

Strom gave board members a look at his development process for the proposed 2019-20 budget.

“We’re eliminating unused expenditure lines to pay for increased courthouse security,” he said.

Unfilled positions in the county Strom proposed eliminating included a juvenile referee position in the probate court and a part-time court reporter in the circuit court.

Strom also spoke about the status of the county’s pension stability fund.

“You’ve done the heavy lifting to plan for increased pension costs,” he said, noting the fund’s current balance is $2,022,256.

According to Strom, the county will soon have to start using this fund to offset increasing pension obligations. He also provided board members with an overview of pension stability fund usage rules and a proposed strategy for using the fund.

“This gets complicated, so I don’t want to get too bogged down, and some of these numbers are subject to change,” he said.

In other business, the board:

– approved a $46,725 budget request for MSU Extension.

– agreed to release a request for proposals for renovations to the Friend of the Court office and hearing room.

– okayed an amendment to a contract between itself and the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) for work at the Delta County Airport.

– accepted the resignation of District Court Criminal Clerk Heather Wentworth and authorized filling the position.

– approved filling the victim witness coordinator position in the prosecutor’s office.

– approved a reimbursement request from Deputy Dan Lacarte towards the replacement of his cell phone, which was damaged while he was assisting in the rescue of two kayakers near Gladstone.

– approved out-of-county travel for commissioners planning to attend the U.P. Association of County Commissioners Fall Conference in Sault Ste. Marie on Oct. 10 and 11.

– accepted a number of appointments for Sabor.

– heard an update on Rapid River Falls ORV/ATV Park from Delta Conservation District Executive Director Rory Mattson.

– okayed a “blanket signature” for MDOT transportation grants. This was done in order to accommodate County Clerk Nancy Przewrocki’s recent name change.

– continued to discuss the hiring process to find a replacement for Strom. No official decisions related to this were made at Wednesday’s meeting.

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