County budget talks continue

The Jasper County Board of Supervisors continued budget talks Wednesday morning, hearing from several county departments.

RSVP

The Retired and Senior Volunteer Program received $1,500 from the board of supervisors this fiscal year, and director Denice Fischer said she would appreciate similar continued support. Currently, RSVP has 69 volunteers who help throughout the community in such programs as tax assistance, transportation, Help Engage a Reader Today (HEART), patient visits, and Big Brother Big Sister program.

Supervisor Denny Stevenson said the county has been cutting back on funding to non-mandated agencies in recent years, and would consider the request later in the budget process.

Sanitarian/Home Health

Director Lisa Damman said Home Health Aides are currently serving 95 Jasper County residents in their homes, whom they visit an average of three times per week. Often those aides are the only outside contact those residents have all week, except for Congregate Meals delivery.

Expenditures for her department will drop by $6,150 next fiscal year, following a re-evaluation of the department’s spending.

Board of Health

Director Kevin Leutters said his department’s expenditures as well will be down next fiscal year, by $3,100. The department purchased a GPS unit last year to account for the extra expense. Leutters said he has been busy testing well water, plugging wells and inspecting swimming pools and
tattoo parlors. He will begin inspections of funeral homes in the near future.

Planning and Zoning

There has been a 39 percent increase in electrical permits in the past year, driven by the economy, director Larry Ryan said, due to an increase in home building activity. Ryan has taken in $3,000 in revenue from electrical inspections conducted his department in Mingo and Baxter over the past year. The state had previously been conducting those inspections. Ryan said overall, his budget will be slightly lower than this fiscal year’s budget.

Information Technology

Director Celia Robertson said her department will see a significant increase in expenditures next fiscal year. Vital Support Systems will be conducting some projects, including setting up domain in the Engineer’s Office, server clean-up in Attorney’s Office, and Virtualization and Disaster Recovery Project. In addition, IT will be upgrading to a new version of Real Estate and Financial/Payroll. Total for all these additions for 2012-13 fiscal year is 311,914.89.