Commission Hires County Manager
The Jasper County Commission voted unanimously Monday to hire Karen Degges as the new Jasper County Manager, and she will begin work today, June 20.
Ms. Degges takes over from Lorri Smith who was named county manager earlier this year, then resigned after being offered a job at the secretary of state’s office. Mrs. Smith has stayed on in a part-time/consultant capacity to keep the county running until her successor could be named, and Mrs. Smith was involved in the interview and hiring process.
Information on Ms. Degges, and the two other finalists for the position ran in The Monticello News on June 6. She is currently a business consultant, and served as city administrator for the city of Baldwin from 2010 to 2012.
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Ms. Degges will be compensated $80,000 for her first year, which is designated as probationary, and after that her salary will be increased to $85,000.
The commissioners also held two public hearings on the budget on Monday—one at 9 a.m. and one at 6 p.m. At the 9 a.m. session, Charles Forsythe and Mary Patrick both commented.
At the evening meeting, former Commissioner Patrick was the only person who commented, and some of her comments can be seen in a letter to the editor on page 4 of today’s paper. Mrs. Patrick complained about a the commission upping the judicial budgets, even though those departments had been over-budget for years. She said other departments had cut and cut, and that the judicial offices did not.
The county’s budget is $8,289,600, up 1.11 percent from last year. The millage rate the county will set, barring any changes, is 15.446 for both the incorporated and unincorporated areas, and an additional 0.851 that is specifically earmarked for Jasper Memorial Hospital.
Mrs. Smith reviewed the county’s cash flow, as well, showing as best she can at this point the numbers for the end of the fiscal year which ends June 30. She wanted the commissioners to have an understanding before they made a decision on some of the items on the agenda, specifically improvements to the animal control facility.
They approved bids to repair the roof at the Extension office, 911 center and Hillsboro Fire Deparmtent for a total of $25,365. In addition, the commission approved the bid for a new roof at the sheriff’s office for $98,600, with $11,000+ of that coming from the sheriff’s budget.
Lastly, after reviewing the financial status of the county, and talking with the sole bidder, E.L. Jones of E.L. Jones Construction the commissioners approved $40,244 worth of work to be done at the animal control facility. A great deal of the improvements there are mandated, as the facility does not have proper ventilation.
Ms. Smith also reviewed with the commissioners where money from the contingency budget was spent. At the beginning of FY 2013, the commission budgeted $285,600 for contingency. As of this meeting, some $112,792 remained, that that is where the money is coming from for the roofs, leaving that line item at zero to end the year.
Ms. Smith also told commissioners that the new county manager would oversee the EMS advisement committee that the commissioners voted at the last meeting to set up, and that the landfill news is good, so far, but that she will leave that up to the new administration.
