County budget holds the line

The county is entering the final stages of setting the budget for the coming year and it seems like holding steady will be the name of the game.

While revenue from the mill levy has increased, other revenue sources went in the opposite direction. Meanwhile, inflation has made its presence known on numerous budget lines.

This, along with an eye to future sustainability, has led the commissioners to decide that it won’t be possible to greenlight any departmental projects during the fiscal year of 2024-25.

Revenues

Revenue has been a mixed bag this year, says County Clerk Melissa Jones.

“The mill levy is actually up from what it was last year. Utilities actually came in higher,” she says, referring to such public utilities as railroads, telecommunications and electric companies.

“We thought it was going to be lower, but utilities came in higher at the state level, so that helped us.”

On the other hand, she says, various other revenue sources are either lower than in previous years or are set to decrease in the near future – or both.

For example, the county has enjoyed a funding bump since the COVID-19 pandemic through federal disaster funding – and that’s now coming to an end.

“Last year we also had American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) moneys that we could commit that we don’t have this year,” she says.

“We committed about $441,000 last year of ARPA moneys and this year we have $266,000 left, so we’re committing that, but then we’re done and that’s the last of the ARPA money.”

For ARPA funding through the federal government that’s under a total of $10 million, the county is permitted to use the money to simply supplement the budget. Like last year, Jones will therefore allocate it to payroll and divide the total by department according to the percentage of the total budget that department receives.

Property tax was meanwhile at a similar level to last year, but this is likely to be the last time that happens.

“Now they can apply for these exemptions, but that won’t go into effect until next year, as I understand,” she says.

It’s also impossible to ignore the effects of inflation. Fuel, for example, requires a bigger chunk of the budget this year, as does postage.

“We couldn’t even maintain last year’s budget because all those kinds of things have gone up,” she says.

Requests

In the weeks leading up to approval of the county budget, each department has the opportunity to present its requests for the year.

This year, says Jones, requests were up by $2.6 million.

The requests, she says, include potential projects that could be undertaken over the next year should the money be available.

They’re “If we have the money, let’s do this” ideas, she says.

“They did put in for some projects but we’ve actually cut all of those already,” she says. “We just couldn’t budget for those projects because we just don’t have the money there.”

These projects included, for example, constructing a new building to house all the county’s vehicles, including search and rescue, fire and road and bridge.

Only two projects are likely to go ahead this year, and both will be funded via grants.

The first involves $160,000 from the Wyoming Association of Sheriffs and Chiefs of Police, which will be used to separate the air flow between the jail and the dispatch room in the Crook County Sheriff’s Office.

The end result will be that illness in the jail will not impact employees in the dispatch area.

The county is also hopeful that it will soon be receiving funding from the State Loans and Investments Board (SLIB) to the tune of around $500,000. The money would kick off the courthouse basement remodel project.

Before the space can be remodeled, the county needs to update its HVAC and electrical systems. Last year, a review of the mechanical systems throughout the building – some of which are original fixtures – saw many items given a red rating on the risk assessment.

These items affect both efficiency and safety and can now be tackled with the area stripped bare after the relocation of the museum.

The SLIB grant certainly wouldn’t cover the whole update, but, “it’s a start,” says Jones.

“The state recommended to try to do little chunks at a time,” she says. “Eventually, you’ll get there.”

Holding Steady

With all this in mind, this year’s county budget mainly focuses on operating expenses.

“We want to be sustainable,” Jones says. After all, it’s impossible to know what the future holds.

However, two things can be predicted. The first, she says, is that property tax exemptions will come into effect next year and will likely hit the county’s bottom line.

The second is the end of the ARPA funding.

Together – and combined with potential additional inflation – these could mean a lean year in 2025.

The final budget hearing for the 2024-25 fiscal year is scheduled for July 15.