La Paz County supervisors approve software purchase, staffing reorganizations and FY25 budget adjustments

La Paz County Board of Supervisors on Monday voted to approve several administrative changes and a budget true-up after a staff presentation on the county's fiscal year 2025 finances.

The board approved a two-year agreement with NEOGOV for PowerDMS scheduling and management software for the La Paz County Sheriff’s Office, with first-year costs of $14,375.50 and second-year costs of $12,495.50 for a total of $26,871, a sheriff’s office representative told the board. The representative said the system "will allow us to have our FTO process electronically established" and to move away from handwritten trainee logs and paper timecards.

The board also approved organizational reorganizations for county services. Cheryl, a county staff presenter, proposed combining parks and golf oversight into a parks and recreation structure (updating the parks director job description and adding a 0.5 FTE account clerk to create a full-time shared clerk), eliminating the golf course director and assistant director positions, and moving toward a lead ranger role drawn from existing ranger staff. Cheryl said an attached three-year financial analysis shows savings within the current budget.

Separately, the board approved moving animal control officers to the sheriff's department structure, eliminating the animal control director position, converting the kennel attendant to a full-time equivalent (adding 0.5 FTE), and replacing a kennel supervisor with an office manager. Cheryl said the sheriff had agreed to provide a chart sergeant to oversee animal control in the near term, with a formal request for an additional sergeant expected in the next fiscal year to offset workload.

On personnel policy, the board approved revisions to the La Paz County Hybrid and Remote Work Policy by a 2–1 vote after board members said their questions had been answered. The meeting transcript recorded the outcome as "Motion carries 2 to 1." The minutes do not record which members voted for or against the motion.

The board heard a year-end presentation on FY25 revenues and expenditures from Cheryl and Karen Ziegler, financial consultant for La Paz County. Staff said overall revenue and expenditures were close to projections but noted a $750,000 overspend in operations that staff attributed to departments reallocating vacancy savings into operating expenses late in the year. Staff described the approval before the board as a budget-neutral request to move money between departmental lines so departments that overspent are covered without increasing the county's overall general fund spending.

The presentation slide and discussion referenced a general fund budget adjustment request; the verbal presentation referenced $455,049.34 as the presented adjustment amount, while the motion recorded on the transcript stated approval of $355,049.34. The board voted to approve the general fund adjustments; the transcript records the motion as carrying but does not reconcile the two amounts on the record. Staff said the adjustments are to "true up" departments for audit and that the county did not overspend its overall general fund.

Routine business on the consent agenda (items 6A–I) and an appointment of the county's representative to the County Supervisors Association Legislative Policy Committee were also approved by voice vote. The meeting opened with the Pledge of Allegiance and an invocation by Pastor Glenn Swartout of Big River Baptist Church, and the board presented an Employee of the Quarter award to Andrew Schuler, identified as director of facilities management.

The meeting adjourned following the votes. The board did not place additional items on this agenda for further public comment; no public-call slips were filed.