Finance director tells departments not to assume mental-health-tax positions in preliminary budgets

Flint Baxter, county finance director, told commissioners departments should not automatically include positions currently funded by the mental health tax in their initial budget submissions and instead must propose funding strategies during scheduled budget workshops. "My recommendation to the board is that, their budgets will not have those positions in, automatically in or funded," Baxter said, adding departments could request positions later through the normal budget process if they present a funding plan. Baxter said the county lacks sufficient remaining mental-health-tax dollars to cover all previously…