County Continues Budget Work

A county budget has yet to be approved despite a special meeting by the Jasper County Board of Commissioners on Friday, June 16, with four of the commissioners in attendance. Commissioner Steven Ledford phoned in to the meeting.

County Manager Mike Benton spoke at length about some of the changes that were made to the budget following the last meeting. The total proposed figure at the last meeting was $13,565,741. With some additions including changes to the Animal Control and Jasper Memorial Hospital, the projected expenditures line item was set at $13,753,830. The projected revenue figure is $13,376,697. This calls for $377,133 to be cut from the projected budget.

Commission Chair Don Jernigan asked for clarification if the three percent COLA raises were in addition to the three percent merit pay, in which Mr. Benton clarified was correct. Commissioner Bruce Henry then said that the figure presented was not advertised and that they needed to discuss this further. The motion was then made to go into an executive session.

As procedure, not much is known what happened in the executive session, but it is noted that the executive session lasted approximately two hours and 30 minutes. Following the lengthy executive session, the board opted to table the discussion until the next regular meeting, scheduled for Monday, July 3.

The board did agree to advertise the proposed budget with a millage rate of 10.864. The motion was made by Mr. Henry and was seconded by Commissioner Gerald Stunkel in a unanimous vote.

Other highlights from the meeting include:

•Adoption of 0.620 millage rate for the Jasper Memorial Hospital

•Adoption of Fire Protection Special District Fee at $28.63 for 2023.

•Adoption of Solid Waste Curbside Fee for 2023 tax billing: Increase from $190 to $195.

The board also heard from several representatives from the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office, Jasper County Fire Department, and the Jasper County 911 department. They all spoke with the hopes of having their departments not being cut further from the budget.

Whether or not any impact will come from these comments is yet to be determined.