To round out the final Carbon County Commission meeting for 2018, County Clerk/Auditor Seth Marsing discussed a number of amendments to be made to the 2018 budget with the commissioners before opening a public hearing on Wednesday.
Marsing stated that there was an increase to budget revenue items. In order to realize the revenues received and make them correspond to expenditure accounts due to unexpected expenses, there were changes that needed to be made. He explained that there was an oversight in the budget process over the years that led to this.
Marsing then conducted a brief overview, beginning with Fund 10, also known as the General Fund. There was an increase in revenues of $200,000 as well as expenditures of $200,000. There were items that came into place including that the Carbon County Accessor’s Office had not budgeted for one of the full-time employees due to being unsure if she was staying on at the time.
Unemployment and workers compensation insurances were a touch higher than expected as well. Also, $78,000 was used for the sheriff’s office in purchasing new vehicles as the county wished to move those items into 2018 and use the funds for this year as opposed to budgeting it for the next year. The inmate and board of prison healthcare also increased.
Capital projects also increased by nearly $90,000 to finish up projects before 2019 and save for the new year budget. Marsing stated that he wished to emphasize that the revenues were already received and he was simply showing them as increased budget items. These did not include mineral lease monies.
With these budget items discussed, the public hearing was opened. While only two individuals spoke on the budget, one requested information regarding the commissioners now seeming to have a much better understanding of the budget than previously. Commissioner Jae Potter credited Marsing to much of the new understanding, stating that the county is in a much better place with his assistance and expertise.
Marsing concluded the presentation and public hearing by remarking that extra revenues were realized this year and the county has budgeted not to spend as much for the new year’s budget. As always, copies of the budget are available online and for pick-up at the county administration building in Price. The resolution was approved.