Benton County discusses building maintenance, pooled-cash budgeting and insurance reserve targets
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Summary
County participants discussed using pooled cash projects to earmark funds for recurring needs, considered a new fund for sheriff’s building maintenance (a $5,000 bid for a chain-link fence was mentioned), and debated insurance reserve targets referenced as an intermediate step to about $250,000 and a $400,000 multi-county maintenance figure.
At a Benton County meeting, participants spent extended time on budget procedures, possible new earmarked funds for building maintenance, and insurance pool reserve requirements.
Unidentified Speaker 2 recommended using 'projects' within the county's pooled cash to earmark recurring expenses—such as election equipment, EMS costs or grant-funded work—rather than creating new line items each year. That approach, staff said, preserves the same general-fund line items while allowing tracking through project accounting and facilitating grant reporting.
Unidentified Speaker 1 reported a $5,000 bid to replace a chain-link fence around a sheriff’s tower and raised other building maintenance needs (fascia, HVAC). Participants discussed whether to seek engineering input for HVAC issues and how to fund those repairs. Unidentified Speaker 3 emphasized the county’s insurance-pool reserve obligations, referencing a multi-step increase target discussed by the pool that would require counties to build reserves (the transcript references an intermediate figure spoken as '2 50' and a $400,000 maintenance number for a 10-county pool) and noted a three-year timeline to reach one of the targets.
Speakers also reviewed operational topics including the seasonal variation in part-time employees across conservation, sheriff’s office and transportation, and the county’s use of salt and sand on secondary roads after a heavy snowstorm. The meeting closed after routine administrative items and an adjournment motion.
No ordinance, statute, or formal policy citation was recorded in the transcript regarding reserve requirements; participants discussed pool guidance verbally but did not reference a written rule in the session. The county indicated staff would pursue follow-up items such as printing reappointment lists and placing the radio service contract question on a 911 board agenda for potential contribution toward radio equipment maintenance.