Budget talks continued for the Jasper County Board of Supervisors at their second budget workshop on Monday. As with those who made requests on Friday, the board will take the recommendations and make a final decision after reviewing all requests.
Jasper County Engineer Russ Stutt started the meeting with a $9 million budget request for the next fiscal year. He said that figure remains about the same as last year’s budget.
Kelly Van Mannen with Elderly Nutrition had a budget of $574,355, a 6.5 percent reduction from last year.
“I’m reducing it by about $39,000 for 2016. I think that is still coming in higher than what it is going to be,” Van Mannen said.
Information Systems had a similar budget at $659,077, with a $45,000 addition to salaries for a help desk position. The recorder’s office reported a higher budget, by more than $200,000, at $662,290. County recorder Denise Allan said the increase came from a future project in which the office will digitize records in order to be prepared for a disaster situation.
Central Point Coordinator Jody Eaton covered both community services programs and mental health services at $248,050 and $833,307, respectively.
“We felt that we were able to go down a couple thousand dollars in prescription medications, due to the fact that a lot of individuals have moved over to the medical program,” Eaton said. “We are seeing fewer requests but we are still filling that gap.”
The Jasper County Sheriff’s Office came in with a budget at just more than $4.8 million, with all line items remaining the same as last year’s budget. Sheriff John Halferty said his agency are working to get more of a return on the room and board fee at the jail, which currently is only coming in between two and three percent.
“Our argument is that they may not be able to pay now, but some day they may be able to,” Halferty said.
County attorney Mike Jacobsen requested a budget of slightly more than $1 million. Treasurer Doug Bishop said his $705,184 budget remained the same with the only increase being made to wages and benefits. Finally, Auditor Dennis Parrott requested a budget of $877,518, which includes a 1.9 percent increase due the general election in 2016.
The board of supervisors will wrap up budget talks following its regular Tuesday meeting.
Contact Jamee A. Pierson at
641-792-3121 ext. 6534
or jpierson@newtondailynews.com