Osage County reviews courthouse maintenance, IT and juvenile detention costs in draft budget

At its May 27 meeting, the Osage County Commission reviewed draft budget lines for courthouse maintenance, information technology services and juvenile detention expenses, with staff and commissioners questioning how several items should be classified and funded.

County staff discussed moving courthouse maintenance and IT costs out of a catchall category and into clearer line items. "He's with Century Technology, which is like our IT," one county staff member said while identifying an outside IT technician who assists several county offices. Staff said the IT work has been handled on an "as needed" basis by Century Technology and suggested separating computer-related costs from building maintenance in the budget.

The discussion centered on page 9 of the draft budget, where staff described a grouping for "courthouse maintenance" that includes personnel, contractual services and commodities. Staff said the draft currently shows proposals for three full-time maintenance positions but asked whether that count and how wages were entered should be adjusted. Cell-phone and vehicle costs were described as separate fixed or variable items; staff said they removed some template lines (marketing and travel) from the county building maintenance totals.

Commissioners and staff also reviewed a county building maintenance line described in the draft and discussed whether it should be shown as a separate appropriation. "If we're breaking it out, you'd need to put the county building maintenance line...as a —" one participant said, and staff proposed moving the county building maintenance item to the appropriated funds on page 10 so it would be recorded separately from routine personnel and operating costs.

Participants identified specific dollar figures in the draft: staff said they would remove $48,000 and $67,800 from certain totals and discussed a personnel and commodities subtotal that the presenter read aloud while preparing a revised total. Several template amounts (marketing, travel) were identified as standard placeholders and were removed or reallocated.

Juvenile detention costs drew separate attention. Staff said the county has a line item intended to cover juvenile detention that can vary substantially month to month because the county contracts for placements. "We had a line item of $40,000. But sometimes it does get used...I had $89,000 during COVID because we couldn't during the trial," one staff member said, and another said some months saw bills of about $18,000. Staff noted the county must contract out juvenile detention placements and recommended consulting Tanya, who has discretion over continued detention, to clarify expected usage and appropriate budgeting.

No formal vote or final decisions were recorded in the transcript on these items. Staff indicated next steps would include breaking out county building maintenance from courthouse personnel and clarifying juvenile detention budgeting with the official who oversees those placements.

The discussion referenced neighboring jurisdictions as possible placement options (Douglas County, Jefferson City and Erie County) and noted that contracting practices and vacant-bed fees affect costs. Staff emphasized the need for clearer line-item classification in the next budget draft to distinguish routine maintenance, major building projects and IT support costs.