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Hand County approves levy amendment, contingency transfers and auto-supplement for sheriff camera grant
Summary
Commissioners adopted an amended budget resolution adjusting the secondary roads levy (Resolution 25‑14a), approved a reserve line item for secondary-road funds, and authorized contingency transfers with an auto-supplement plan to accept a sheriff office camera grant if wired before year end.
Hand County commissioners approved several budget and finance actions during the meeting, including a corrected levy line, a road-and-bridge reserve, and contingency transfers to address predicted shortfalls.
Speaker 4 introduced Resolution 25‑14a, an amendment to the county’s budget resolution documenting a change in the secondary roads levy rate. After brief discussion about whether the adjustment resulted from exceeding a cap or from a calculation error, the commission moved, seconded and approved Resolution 25‑14a by roll call; the roll-call record in the meeting transcript records ‘Aye’ votes from Palmer, Eschenbone, Orangeman, Strasburg and Jensen.
The commission also approved Resolution 25‑22 directing the county auditor to assign residual secondary‑road and road‑and‑bridge revenues to a line item that will carry balances from year to year. Speaker 4 said the change was intended to make road spending more transparent and to track funds tied to unorganized townships (Harrison Township was cited as the county’s only unorganized township at present).
Commissioners then discussed a contingency transfer (Resolution 25‑23) intended to cover several budget shortfalls, including jail and inmate services and mental‑health bills. Speaker 4 noted the sheriff’s office expects a $60,000 grant for a camera project; if the grant arrives before year end, the contingency transfer would not be needed. The board approved Resolution 25‑23 and separately approved an automatic supplement action to apply grant funds to the sheriff’s budget if the funds are wired to the county.
Other budget items flagged during discussion included a $3,221.06 Miller Terminal overpayment that will need a supplement unless the state approves an alternate approach, and monthly invoice timing: a large November invoice (~$303,000 to Brownlee) related to recently purchased materials was discussed together with the highway department’s proposal to reassign available payroll funds to materials to facilitate a large payment.
The commission approved the motions by roll call and voice vote as recorded in the meeting minutes. No additional tax-rate changes or final levy determinations beyond the resolution amendment were made at the meeting.
