County budget approved without final payroll numbers

The Stillwater County Commissioners unanimously approved the final fiscal year 2016 budget following a public hearing on Sept. 1. The $7.1 million budget is 12.6 percent more than the FY2014 and FY2015 budgets.
Finance Director Joe Morse said the increase resulted from pay raises, higher health insurance costs for county workers, set-asides for capital improvement projects and $435,000 for the county’s share in the cost of reconstructing 3.3 miles of West Rosebud Road from Fiddler Creek Road to the Allen Grade Bridge, which will be replaced.
The total number of mills to be levied are 127.58 for properties inside Columbus and 187.33 for properties outside Columbus. That includes the 15.7 mills for voted and permissive levies for all properties and a one-time 15 mill levy for the West Rosebud Road project to be levied on properties outside Columbus. The county levied 166.3 mills on properties outside Columbus last year.
County Attorney Nancy Rohde expressed concern that the final budget did not include payroll changes for non-elected county workers. The commissioners will vote on that part of the budget at their Sept. 8 meeting.
Rohde said she believes state law requires all payroll figures to be included in the final budget. She said she will further investigate the matter to help improve next year’s budget process. She also said department heads should be included more in the budget process, while acknowledging that the commissioners have the authority to approve the final budget.
Sheriff Cliff Brophy said he agreed with Rohde and wanted department heads to have more of a role in the budget process. He said the process appeared “arbitrary” in past years.
Commissioner Gerald Dell said the budget process hasn’t changed in years. He also said Brophy has sent his undersheriff to budget meetings rather than attending himself.
“The process has changed,” Brophy responded.
The sheriff thanked the commissioners for being generous in budgeting for equipment but not for payroll, which he said amounts to 60-70 percent of the entire budget. He demanded that department heads be included in the budget process, and that their participation be described in a policy document.
Commissioner Maureen Davey said she was in favor of improving the budget process, “but this is the first time I’ve heard these comments.” She also noted that Rohde was involved in the budget process in the past as the assistant county attorney.
Rohde pointed out that she was not trying to be overly negative but was trying to improve the budget process. She also thanked the commissioners for their hard work and generosity with her department.