Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Budget And Community Programs topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Commissioners stress employee pay, budget priorities and community programs ahead of school year
Summary
Commissioners used the meeting to highlight back-to-school outreach, youth programming at YMCA Camp Chandler, budget priorities including employee pay, and County participation in National Night Out events.
County commissioners spent part of the meeting discussing budget priorities, county employee pay and recent community outreach events, and they praised law enforcement and nonprofit efforts to support young people.
Commissioner Costanza highlighted a back-to-school event held the prior weekend and identified concrete impacts: “we gave out 2,500 goody bags” and staff and volunteers handed out more than 500 pairs of shoes to students, he said. Costanza told the commission that, at the event’s start, people were lined up hours early: he recalled seeing “about 200 people lined up” before the event opened. He characterized the event as evidence of need and said the commission should expand support next year.
Costanza also said the county has been focusing on budget hearings and on establishing priorities that preserve core services and take care of county employees. “One of the things that I just want to share is…there are a couple of main priorities that we have to establish,” he said, adding that baseline pay for some department staff “is not where it needs to be” and that commissioners must consider how to use existing funds rather than increase taxes.
Commissioners and staff praised the sheriff’s youth programming at YMCA Camp Chandler. A speaker at the meeting said 44 young people attended a sheriff’s camp there; several commissioners encouraged broader commissioner participation in the program next year.
Administrative announcements included an invitation for the commission to drop by National Night Out events (weather permitting) and a note that the Jones Group would present legislative updates after the meeting.
What was formal and what was not: these remarks were part of the meeting’s comments and announcements section and do not represent formal county budget decisions. The commission discussed budget hearings the county has held and described priorities under consideration, but the transcript records no formal change to the budget in this portion of the meeting beyond the separate voted appropriations summarized in the meeting’s actions.
