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Judge recommends modest new hires; commissioners hear request to raise volunteer fire stipends
Summary
The judge recommended capping new positions to $500,000 from $1.8M in requests, proposed three targeted hires totaling about $170,000 and noted a request to raise the volunteer fire stipend that has not changed since 2012.
Staff told commissioners that position requests totaled about $1.8 million but recommended funding only $500,000 in new positions. The recommendation included three general‑fund hires (county clerk support, county auditor support and a part‑time deputy fire marshal) estimated to cost about $170,000.
On volunteer fire support, the presenter said: "We currently pay them, $600 a month. That comes up to about $89,000 a year. The request that I have in is that we double it to so, basically, $1,200 a year." The transcript wording is internally inconsistent on monthly vs. yearly totals; budget staff told the court the stipend had not been updated since 2012 and flagged it as a candidate for adjustment.
The judge also proposed allocating roughly $330,000 for the sheriff to apply toward department staffing requests; commissioners discussed balancing new hires with other priorities such as road and bridge materials and jail costs. No final hires were approved in the workshop; the court directed department heads to present details at scheduled budget sessions.
