The Mercer County Board of Commissioners approved the county budget at $4,051,408.19 and voted to transfer $208,000 into cash reserves during a meeting on Oct. 6. The board recessed midmeeting to let staff correct calculation errors in the budget documents before resuming and taking the final votes.

The transfer to cash reserves was proposed by a board member and seconded; the board then approved the $208,000 transfer by roll call. Board members Casey, Rick, Jamie and Jean voted in favor, and the motion carried. Later the board approved the full budget, again by roll call.

Commissioners and staff spent a substantial portion of the meeting reviewing the budget "blue book," identifying and correcting inconsistencies in mill and valuation figures that affected individual funds. Staff said the county agent line had been calculated with an incorrect valuation (66,000 in an earlier draft rather than the corrected 60,222), which changed the mills and required updating the preliminary totals. The weed board's mill rate and the line showing board salaries also appeared with mismatched values in different parts of the packet, prompting the recess so staff could reconcile the numbers.

The discussion included whether to place excess levy revenue into reserves or lower the tax levy. Commissioners noted the county is subject to a 3% cap on property tax increases (the board discussed the cap and the three-year look-back used in its calculation) and that preserving reserves could protect the county in future years if state or federal funding changed. One board member said keeping the funds in reserve would help the county manage the cap calculation over the next three-year look-back period.

Staff reported the general fund total would be about 40.46 mills and the overall county levy about 93.26 mills after the reconciliations. The board directed staff to produce a final printed budget reflecting the agreed adjustments and to reissue the corrected packet.

Other budget items discussed during the session included: the county's remaining ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds and reporting obligations, a line-item increase for the sheriff's participation in a multi-county BCI task force, and placement of workers' compensation and employee assistance program expenses in the auditors' accounts. Commissioners also reviewed a payroll issue: retirement contributions are not calculated on overtime, and staff said they would separate overtime on next year's salary sheet to make retirement calculations explicit.

The board recessed while staff made the stated adjustments and reconvened to take the motions and votes; after final votes the board approved the budget and the $208,000 reserve transfer. Staff said they would circulate the final, corrected budget packet to the commissioners and prepare the mill/levy sheets for publication.