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Auditor says county not ‘in the red $800,000,’ explains budget amendment
Summary
Buchanan County Auditor Kris Wilgenbusch told supervisors that recent budget amendments relate largely to incoming grant funds and county role as employer of record for a changed MHDS region; reimbursements appear on the revenue side, she said, countering a circulating claim the county was $800,000 in the red.
Buchanan County Auditor Kris Wilgenbusch told the Board of Supervisors on June 1 that recent budget amendments do not mean the county is operating at an $800,000 deficit. She said many amended expense ledger lines reflect grant funds the county will receive and act on as employer of record for the recently reconfigured MHDS region and for a Mental Health Advocate, and those expenditures are reimbursed and shown as revenue in the amendment.
Wilgenbusch said she wanted to “clear up some misinformation that was floating around, that the county was in the red over $800,000.” She explained that the ledger changes move money into expense lines that match incoming grants or pass‑through payroll obligations for which the county will be reimbursed.
The clarification came during the auditor’s review of a budget amendment approved at the previous meeting; Wilgenbusch emphasized that reimbursements corresponding to the amended expenses appear on the revenue side of the amendment. The board did not take additional action after the explanation.
Wilgenbusch also reviewed the county’s claims‑publication process, noting the county currently spends about $15,000 annually to publish board proceedings and that publishing claims line‑by‑line would increase that cost by an estimated $60,000—an option the board would need to approve if it chose to pursue it.
