Madison County supervisors adjust audit and IT budgets as rural basic fund shortfall looms

Madison County Board of Supervisors members met in a budget work session to review the county's fund-balance worksheet and make preliminary adjustments to next year's spending plan.

Terry presented the fund-balance worksheet and told the board most funds looked healthy but that the rural basic fund was significantly under target. County staff said the attorney indicated there is no current plan to conduct a forensic audit, though routine audits for 2023 and 2024 likely will cost more than originally budgeted. After discussion, the supervisors agreed by consensus to increase the regular audit budget from $85,000 to $100,000 and reduce the forensic-audit line from $100,000 to $60,000 to reflect that guidance.

The supervisors also discussed reserve policy and interfund transfers. Board members favored holding a larger cash-flow reserve this year amid uncertainty in the treasurer's office and potential unexpected audit costs; several suggested maintaining a 25% target reserve rather than returning to a 20% minimum. Staff noted typical November'to'February transfers to the secondary roads fund totaled about $200,000 in the prior year and that large property-tax receipts are expected in March or April, which may affect final fund balances.

Telecommunications and information-technology costs drew extended attention. County staff described recurring outages with the incumbent broadband provider and a steep early-termination penalty in the existing contract; supervisors asked staff to compile outage tickets and pursue credits or contract relief and to inventory all telecom contracts to assess bundling opportunities. The board approved raising the computer-rotation line from $15,000 to $25,000 to ensure reliable equipment for new hires and ongoing operations and directed IT staff to compare leasing versus purchasing and return with recommendations.

Public-health and human-services budgets were also reviewed. Board members and staff disputed a recent news characterization of county home-health costs: county figures shown in the meeting represented approximately $240,000 total for the program and roughly $9,200 per client when divided by about 26 clients, a much higher figure than the $2,500-per-person number cited in the coverage. One supervisor said, "They were flat lied to," characterizing the media portrayal; staff said the county would continue to identify service providers and refer residents to additional local resources that contacted the county after the story ran.

Capital needs and grants: supervisors recorded several outside grants (Prairie Meadows, Shellburn, Farmers Cooperative and FEMA funding for a power-load system). The FEMA portion was described as covering roughly $38,000 of the power-load equipment, with a total system price cited near $70,740. The board agreed to add $10,000 to a capital-projects planning/management consulting line to hire an inspector to scope repairs, including investigating a longtime courthouse dome leak reported to have persisted for years.

Procedural and scheduling items: the supervisors set follow-up budget sessions, including a meeting on March 20 (with a possible backup session the week of March 24) and a deadline to finalize decisions so the auditor can publish required tax notices in April.

No formal ordinance or appropriation was adopted at this meeting; the board made budgeting decisions by consensus and directed staff to update the worksheets and return with revised totals for final action at a forthcoming meeting.