By Rich Wicks | Times Vedette
During the meeting of the Guthrie County Board of Supervisors on Jan. 18, the supervisors heard from three department heads with preliminary budget numbers for the upcoming fiscal year.
Brad Halterman shared budget information regarding the county’s conservation department.
Referring to a previous request he’d made to the supervisors, Halterman said, “The conservation board very much appreciated that conversation and … being able to do the savings that we have this fiscal year and purchase a truck this fiscal year.”
He explained that the conservation board had prioritized between the “wants versus needs” to help control the budget.
“The bottom line for increases is very minimal,” Halterman said.
Regarding projected revenues, Halterman said, “It’s down. Obviously, the one and only reason is no trail fees, no daily or annual passes for the Raccoon River Valley Trail. That came to an end Jan. 1.”
Budget data was presented by Brian Hoffman for the Information Technology (IT) department.
Supervisor Steve Smith asked about how the county would be able to “pinch hit” if Hoffman were unavailable to do his job for an extended period.
“If I couldn’t do it, there would be, most likely, an organization, a third-party provider that could do it,” Hoffman said.
Sheriff Marty Arganbright presented preliminary numbers for his department’s budget, including the 28E Agreement. He and the supervisors discussed the estimated revenues from housing inmates from other counties and how to best allocate those funds.
The board’s next meeting will be on Tuesday, Jan. 23 at 9 a.m. Interested persons may listen to the supervisor meetings remotely by dialing 1-323-792-6123 and entering passcode 547 029 216#.