Richland County commissioners press departments for cuts as $1.67M budget gap remains

Richland County commissioners spent the bulk of their Nov. 20 meeting reviewing department budgets and identifying potential cuts to close a reported $1,673,160.96 gap.

Commissioner Tony Vero and County Administrator Andrew Keller said the board will review each office line by line and only consider realistic revenue increases, not speculative ones. ‘‘We do believe there will be some opportunity to increase revenues,’’ Keller said, but added the county will not balance the budget on stretch projections.

Discussion focused on several line items that commissioners agreed could yield savings. Postage was debated at length, with staff and commissioners weighing a range of assumptions about per-unit postage and inflation. Commissioners discussed reducing the postage allocation toward a compromise figure in the $2.65–$2.85 range while asking staff (Rachel and Kelly were named) to verify actuals before finalizing the figure.

Chair and staff flagged the EMA vehicle, a planned $235,000 capital purchase, as appropriate to move out of the general fund to preserve operating resources. Commissioners said the vehicle is a large capital expense not required for day-to-day operations and should be considered separately from operating budgets.

Courts and domestic relations budgets drew scrutiny. Domestic Relations requested an additional full-time assignment clerk and asked that the general fund pick up 100% of an assignment clerk’s salary; commissioners emphasized the mediation fund balance (discussed at about $263,000) and asked the courts to justify shifting costs to the general fund. Vero said he expected courts to ‘‘share in the process’’ and suggested the board would be inclined to keep a cost split rather than move to full general-fund support without strong justification.

The coroner’s noncontract services (autopsy) line was another area for possible reductions. Commissioners discussed using a historical baseline (several referenced years) and proposed trimming the coroner autopsy allocation toward a prior-year level to capture roughly $75,000 in savings while cautioning that year-to-year autopsy counts are variable.

Other departmental items reviewed included tax map raises, recorder termination payouts (one-time payout proposed at about $32,000), and anticipated health insurance increases. Commissioners discussed moving unused payouts into contingency if available and agreed to continue the detailed review at future budget sessions.

Next steps: staff will verify line-item actuals (postage, autopsy expenses, court fund balances), assess whether the single juvenile detention plumbing bid meets specs, and return with suggested cuts and confirmed revenue estimates in subsequent sessions before final appropriations.