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Commissioners approve budget transfers for transcripts and siren repairs, move emergency management to sheriff's office
Summary
The Finance & Ways & Means Committee approved a set of budget adjustments: a journal transfer to cover increased court transcription costs, a $2,438 transfer to pay a $5,610.21 siren repair invoice, acceptance of Q2 budget adjustments, and a motion to move the emergency management post to the sheriff’s office pending a job description; the board also approved a policy to resume charging for GIS map data.
A county court office representative asked the Finance & Ways & Means Committee for an additional $3,000 in the transcription budget, saying the allowable fees for transcripts recently rose and the office had already exhausted its allocation.
"I'm here today to ask for an increase to our transcription budget," the representative said, describing per-page charges of $3.75 for an original transcript and about $0.90 for copies, and noting recent invoices had already consumed the budgeted amount.
Commissioners discussed which line item would cover the expense and directed staff to make a journal entry transferring funds within the general fund to cover the second-half need; the motion to transfer the amounts was made and carried on roll call.
Separately, 911/ambulance staff reported preventive maintenance on the county’s eight severe-weather sirens required small repairs. The repair invoice totaled $5,610.21; staff requested and commissioners approved a $2,438 budget adjustment from the ambulance 210 fund to pay the invoice and cover expected power bills for the remainder of the year.
Finance staff presented the second-quarter budget adjustments to correct line-item balances. A motion to accept those adjustments was made and approved by roll call.
The board also discussed and approved moving the county’s Emergency Management (EM) position to the sheriff’s office. Commissioners raised concerns about converting a previously salaried role to an hourly assignment and how overtime would be calculated and reimbursed. A sheriff’s office representative explained that if a sergeant performs EM duties and works overtime, that overtime would generally come from the sheriff’s overtime budget and some overtime may be charged to grants such as the Stone Garden Grant where eligible. The board’s motion to place the EM assignment under the sheriff’s office passed with the condition that a job description be prepared and brought back to the board for review.
Equalization and legal staff recommended adopting a written policy to comply with FOIA standards and close a loophole that had allowed third parties to obtain GIS data inexpensively. Commissioners discussed the fairness of resuming fees and approved adopting the policy format so the county could resume charging for GIS mapping products. One commissioner said, "these companies are looking for work around to get it for next to nothing, and that's not right."
The committee also received and approved a multi-year plan from the regional NEMSCA agency for 2027–29 and reviewed the FY2027 budget schedule, which will give commissioners about a month to review department budgets and punt a target of Nov. 10 for third reading and adoption if the schedule holds.
Actions taken at the meeting included approvals of the budget transfers for transcription costs and the siren repair invoice, acceptance of second-quarter budget adjustments, approval to move the EM position to the sheriff’s office pending a job description, and adoption of the GIS data-fee policy.
