Greene County Commission Signs 2022 Budget; includes salary increases

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (Press release edited / KY3) – Greene County Commissioners officially passed Budget 2022 on Monday at the historic Greene County Courthouse in Springfield.

Here are some of the key takeaways and highlights from Budget 2022:

Salaries & Hiring

– Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA), market adjustment to employee compensation and mid-year merit step for eligible employees

– Minimum wage increased by 19%

– New employees hired in 2022 will have salaries 4.5% higher than standard years

– $ 2 / hour differential for night shifts at the county jail

– 81 new positions added, mainly in the new county jail

– New tuition reimbursement plan, total funds available: $ 15,000

Projects

– Highways Department: extension of the Kansas Highway (from the Republic to Plainview), improvement of the intersections at FR 140 and FR 115, resurfacing of the roadway and improvements of the ADA sidewalks; BNSF, Farmers Branch, Flint Hill Branch and Little Sac River bridge replacements

– Over $ 1.8 million for mental health services

– $ 1.3 million for information systems for new equipment and maintenance

– $ 559,669 for stormwater projects

– Last year of the 5-year purchase contract for the county clerk’s electoral equipment

Capital equipment

– $ 400,000 for office renovations and $ 119,000 for technology upgrades to the assessor’s office

– $ 165,000 at the preliminary phase for ankle monitoring services

– $ 95,000 to the Office of Emergency Management for the replacement of an exterior warning siren, a towing vehicle and a computer

– $ 60,000 to Building Operations for special projects including campus keying, replacement of hot water pumps in courthouses and new door locks at the Archives building

– Fund 101: $ 140,578 for vehicles, Fund 102: $ 35,000 per vehicle

– $ 30,740 for snow and ice removal equipment

– $ 22,000 of new office furniture for the Office of the Public Administrator

– Increase of $ 7,500 for the MU Extension Center

Budget analysis

The total expense for all funds is $ 261,149,286. The expenditure amount for the combined county general funds (GR 1 and 2) is $ 78,573,984.

The figure below shows the revenue and expenditure assigned for GR 1 & 2:

The amount of starting funds for GR 1 and 2 is $ 41,849,528 with an expected final amount of $ 34,696,534. $ 18,474,087 is a required 90 day operating cash level per policy. $ 17 million should be specifically earmarked for reserves.

The 2022 budget is net of $ 9,090,166 below requests. The following represent unfunded budget requests:

The county remains in a strong financial position due to the added stability of the sales tax approved in 2017. A milestone comes in 2022 with the completion of the $ 150 million Sheriff’s Office / Prison project and the start operations of the new facility.

Additionally, prison medical costs have increased significantly from initial estimates, in part due to the withdrawal of an outside contractor providing the service. The budget provides for 16 additional medical staff. The opportunities over the next year will be to calculate the projected needs against the actual operating needs of new facilities.

Another important step taken in this budget was the consolidation of the LEST I and LEST II funds into a single viable operating fund. After the adoption of LEST I in 1997, the cost of the operations undertaken has always been greater than the revenues the county was allowed to withdraw from the tax. This led the General Revenue to make annual fund transfers to cover operating deficits. With this budget, enough items have been moved from LEST to general revenue so that there is no longer an operating deficit in the LEST fund.

Sales tax is up 14.6% over eleven months of processing in 2021 and has a projected growth of 2.0%. However, tax revenues are down by 2.4% due to the drop in the tax levy on property values. Total income, excluding interest, transfers or loans for the 2022 budget, is expected to decrease by 1.0% from the forecasted closing balances for 2021.

Additionally, although recent levels of sales tax growth far exceed any previous growth levels for at least the past 14 years, trend lines have yet to represent a clear turning point in declining growth. . The county will continue to monitor unemployment rates, economic growth, as indicated by sales tax revenues, and the continued influx of federal stimulus funds into the local economy for changes that could indicate a change in the economic outlook.

In 2021 and 2022, there were a total of 14 public meetings on the budget. The Commission’s decisions have been posted online for public review. All were governed by Articles 50.525 to 50.745 of the state statutes, commonly referred to as the “County Budget Act”.

“The budget process is a huge undertaking, and this year, as we do every year, the county has worked hard to develop a final budget that balances need with available funds,” said Chair Commissioner Bob Dixon. “Citizens can take pride in knowing that there is a lot of planning and dedication at all levels in the county to make this happen. “

The full 2022 budget, including more information from the Greene County Budget Office, is available at: https://greenecountymo.gov/budget/.

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