Monday’s Riley County Commission meeting brought forth the approval of the 2013 budget.
With only two commissioners present, the board of commissioners voted 2-0 on a budget that includes a $2.6 million spending reduction and a mill increase.
“It’s a little over a 0.6 mill increase,” County Commissioner Dave Lewis says. “We went through things on a very pragmatic basis, we didn’t add any additional staff except for some staff included in the RCPD budget because of the growth and demands.”
With the increase, the 2013 budget will have mill levy of 35.396 and Lewis says the commission feels comfortable with the budget.
“We have a very sound budget that is going to make sure we don’t compromise service,” Lewis says. “I think that we are still uniquely positioned to grow in a fiscally responsible way.”
The transition of the joint city/county health department to the current Riley County Health Department has influenced Riley County Commissioners to provide more of a 2013 budget for the department.
Lewis says the reason behind that is with bringing the health department over, there are a lot of extenuating circumstances that put the commission in a position where the budget is higher because those employees are now on a 40 hour per week pay scale which is different from the their 37.5 hour per week pay scale.
During an appearance on Tuesday’s In Focus program, Lewis also mentioned that next time around with the budget, the commission may face more difficulty while approving it due to what is happening at the federal level.
