Subcommittees approve commissioner’s budget with a $24,000 re-addition for training

Commission staff reported that all four budget subcommittees met and ultimately approved the commissioner's proposed budget, but two subcommittees recommended modest increases.

Ray told the board the general government subcommittee and the revenue subcommittee added funds. General government added about $24,000 to restore funding the commissioner had proposed cutting; the revenue committee added $24,000 offset by projected revenues. Ray said those additions were passed unanimously within the subcommittees and described the adjustments as budget-neutral relative to the commissioner's proposed totals.

Representative Harrington is recorded as making the motion to add the funds in subcommittee and later voted against the full budget; Representative Miller chaired the general government subcommittee and completed the request to re-add the money. Two no votes were recorded on the Riverside budget in subcommittee, but the overall package advanced as proposed.

The board briefly reviewed the calendar of upcoming subcommittee meetings and a longer-term case-study committee. Members noted some promised documentation from Representative Potenza (about 30 pages) had not yet been provided to the subcommittee; the board agreed to await those materials before taking any further action tied specifically to that submission.

Next steps: staff will circulate the finalized subcommittee recommendations and the updated GDS report when it is complete so the board can review the numbers before final adoption.