The Carbon County Commissioners hosted a public hearing on Wednesday in regard to opening and amending the 2022 Carbon County budget. To begin, Carbon County Clerk/Auditor Seth Marsing explained that this is a process that happens once or twice each year to address new information, unforeseen expenses and received grants.
Marsing continued, outlining the changes that have come up since the 2022 budget was set. First, he explained an adjustment to the budget due to the snow removal equipment shed at the airport.
While the project was initially planned to be complete in 2021, some delays pushed the finalization of the project to early 2022. Marsing explained that the budget had to be adjusted to reflect the change, but reassured the commissioners that the majority of the project was covered by grants.
Marsing was also pleased to announce a $200,000 increase to the budget from the Rural Economic Grant that the county received. Another change came from PEHP for increased costs for health insurance for county employees.
Continuing, Marsing addressed inflation, which has resulted in increased food costs for county programs. He reported an $80,000 increase in food costs for Mobile Meals and senior center meals. A similar increase was also seen for food costs at the county jail.
Finally, Marsing reported an increase to the fairgrounds budget for grooming and maintaining fields. While there was a $75,000 increase for maintenance, there were also some decreases to that budget, resulting in only a $43,000 increase.
During the hearing, one community member addressed the commissions with concerns regarding the budget. He expressed the need to better maintain the budget and cut costs. With no other comments, the commissioners approved the adjustments outlined by Marsing.