Greene County approves several appropriations and transfers; corrects assessor level-designation pay in budget

The Greene County Council approved a series of routine budget actions and directed a correction to assessor level-designation pay that had been carried forward with inappropriate cost-of-living increments.

Approvals included an additional appropriation of $52,252 from county corrections for a sheriff vehicle purchase, a transfer to permit the public defender to buy software and equipment needed this fiscal year (previously budgeted for next year), and several highway department transfers and reimbursements (including quarterly fuel reimbursements and culvert reimbursements). The council also approved reimbursement appropriations tied to mandated bridge inspections.

During the council’s budget review, members identified a discrepancy in the assessor office’s "level designation" compensation. The level‑2 and level‑3 assessor designations are statutory, fixed amounts intended to be paid as designated compensation rather than an open-ended salary line. Staff reported the amounts on the 2025 budget had inadvertently included additional cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) beginning in 2022, inflating the intended fixed payments. The council voted to reset the level-designation amounts to the statutory, fixed figures and approved the budget as corrected.

Other items approved included an additional appropriation of $100,000 for servers tied to the jail (correctional facilities fund), and routine transfers for highway salaries and gas/oil reimbursements. The council approved final and advertising motions for multiple line items consistent with the highway and public-safety requests presented at the meeting.

The council asked staff to make the assessor compensation correction in the budget documents and to upload the corrected budget to state budget portals as required. The corrected budget was approved by roll-call vote at the meeting.