County budget nears completion

Things aren’t looking too alarming on the county’s budget spreadsheets this year.

Though the current total from all requests made by the various departments that keep the county running are higher than the estimated amount that will be available to spend during fiscal year 2023-24, says County Clerk Melissa Jones, the two figures are relatively close compared to some years.

Total requests this year came in at $18,740,000, which is half a million above the estimated revenue. However, there’s still over a month before the budget needs to be passed on July 11, because the process got underway earlier than usual.

“We tried to do something a little different this year,” Jones says.

“[The county departments] all wanted to know why we have to wait so close to the end and then have to hurry up and get things done, so I sent a different kind of spreadsheet to fill out and we had our meetings with the commissioners in May rather than June.”

The idea, Jones says, was that the commissioners could, “see what everyone wanted and listen, rather than everybody have to come in ready to cut things.”

The commissioners could make notes as the meetings went along of things that can be most easily dropped if the need arises.

“We’ll see if it works. I think it’s worked well so far,” she says. “Everybody went in and gave them their spiel, they didn’t have to worry about cutting anything at this point.”

That said, Jones cautions that the commission has been working with ballpark figures thus far.

“We still have to get May and June’s revenue and we still have to get May and June’s expenditures, so it’s still going to change quite a bit from what I could give them at the main meetings, but they were able to be open-minded and have a ballpark of what they needed to do,” she says.

As for the half-million dollars that must be cut before the budget balances, “That’s pretty normal at this point,” says Jones.

For the June meetings, it will be possible to add the May expenditures and revenues, “And so then we should be a little bit closer to where we are and we can have some discussions on…what do they want to cut and those sorts of things.”

Filling the gap – at least partially – might have an easy solution. With American Rescue Plan Act funding still outstanding that needs to be committed by 2024, Jones has recommended to the commission that this be committed to the general fund.

Due to recent federal rule updates for this money, the approximately $731,000 still remaiing can now be used for revenue replacement.

Currently, she explains, it is not committed and therefore shows as an expenditure that must be offset – which affects the budget in itself.

An increase from the mill levy will also help a little, fueled by upticks in property tax. Though most of this remains with the state and is used to fund schools per the Wyoming Constitution, a modest percentage does come back to counties and cities.

“For us, it’s about $30,0000,” Jones says. “Last year, our mills were at about $267,000 and this year’s it’s about $297,000. The mill is up, so the property tax does help as far as the county is concerned.”

Capital Expenditures

The largest item on the request list for capital expenditures within this year’s budget is $500,000 to begin the process of renovating the courthouse basement.

Now that the museum has taken up its new home in Old Stoney and those 10,000 square feet lie empty, it’s time for a new lease of life for the basement. The plan, as laid out by Facilities Maintenance Supervisor Larry Schommer, is to build more spacious offices and additional storage, as well as a smaller additional community room.

None of those plans are on the agenda this year, though, because work will begin with an update for the courthouse’s mechanical systems, some of which are the original fixtures. Many of these – from boilers and pumps to air handlers and exhaust fans – were given a red rating on a recent risk assessment and need to be replaced or repaired to improve efficiency and safety.

The Facilities department has also requested funding of $35,000 for cabinetry in the Northern Wyoming Mental Health building and $30,000 to complete the rebuild of the Road & Bridge shop in Moorcroft.

Crook County Public Health has requested roll-down security windows at a budget request of $15,000.

Funding has also been requested for an insulated room within the Road & Bridge shop to dry out Crook County Search & Rescue equipment. Following the rescue operation at Keyhole Reservoir this past winter, “They had a hard time drying out the wetsuits,” says Jones.

This room would provide a place to hang the suits and either fans or heaters to help dry them. The budget request for this is $55,000.

A request of $161,850 would be used for an HVAC unit in the county jail. The current one is on its last legs, says Jones.

However, Jones adds, it’s a “maybe” at this point because, “We might not need to budget for that because Sheriff Jeff Hodge might be able to get a grant for it.”

Smaller capital construction requests include $15,000 for ceiling tiles and lighting, $10,000 for a water softener for Public Health, $6000 for cabinets and counter tops for the library and $8000 for panels for the fairgrounds.

Jones expects there will be another budget special meeting in June once the estimated revenue and expenditure figures are more final.