Grady County department heads request staff, equipment in budget reviews

At a special joint meeting on Aug. 12, 2025, multiple Grady County department heads described specific staffing and equipment needs as the county review process continued.

Liz Taylor of OSU Extension told the board she removed $3,000 from her maintenance and operations budget. Mica Hackney, the court clerk, said her office needs two more employees to be fully staffed and warned that a scanning project would be a significant expense; Commissioner Ruth Bingham told the board the county would assist with funding and indicated $17,000 would be removed from Hackney's budget during review.

Treasurer Carolyn Bowen said she added $10,000 for postage; Bingham suggested using the Resale account to fund postage and any additional staffing the treasurer might need. Assessor Cindy Gelnar requested another field person and a vehicle to respond to county growth; she asked whether the 2% countywide raise was negotiable. Commissioners discussed leave levels and pay comparisons, noting a countywide average of about 4.3% on raises in the materials Bingham reviewed.

County Clerk Jill Locke said she reduced her employees' requested raises to 2% as the board requested but said it would be difficult to tell employees they would receive less when other departments receive larger increases. Locke said she requested a new employee so she could train a replacement before an upcoming retirement.

The board also reviewed standard budgets for General, Charity, County Commissioners, County Audit, Excise/Equalization Board, Juvenile Detention and Capital Improvement and reported adjustments to the Election Board Secretary and Emergency Management budgets.