Over the next few months, Cole County commissioners will be creating the budget for 2015. On Tuesday, they heard from heads of departments under their direct supervision.
Last year, commissioners adopted a $60 million operating budget. As part of that budget, county employees did not get a raise, but the commission did pick up the cost for an insurance premium increase.
For the ambulance budget in 2015, there is $572,000 in capital improvement requests with $218,000 of that amount to be used to pay for new cardiac monitors. Five ambulances would get these in 2015, and the other five would get them in 2016. Each unit costs $43,762.
There is also a request to add more than $75,000 in salary and overtime to allow a mobile ambulance supervisor to be out in the county from five days to seven days a week. The supervisor can determine whether or not immediate ambulance responses are needed.
The budget for next years's capital improvement sales tax projects includes $990,000 for the design of the Stadium Boulevard and Jefferson Street intersection, $440,000 for the design of Liberty Road Bridge, $1,150,000 for Swift Road/Boise Brule Road upgrades and $175,000 for Woodward Subdivision curb replacement. There is also $140,000 to go to communities in the county for various projects and $1 million for resurfacing.
Also Tuesday, commissioners approved one project that will be done this year. The replacement of a low-water crossing with a new bridge at Vaughn Ford Road will start in mid-October and be done by late December. Lehman Construction was the low bidder at $270,970. That's below the engineer's estimate of $303,904. The project is being paid for with federal road money.
Auditor Jim LePage will present his proposed 2015 budget to the commission this fall, and budget discussions from elected officials' departments will follow.
In November and December, the commission will come up with a final budget that must be approved in January.
The commission is also discussing setting the tax levy for 2014.
Last year, for the fifth consecutive year, the commission reduced the property tax rate for the county's general fund.
The 2012 property tax rate was 10.96 cents for each $100 of assessed property value. Commissioners approved the 2013 levy at an even 10 cents.
Part of the reason for the cut was because the commission promised a 60 percent rollback in tax collections in 2008 when voters approved a sales tax to pay for ambulance service operations.
Another reason was that the commission had a goal to get its reserve fund at $5 million and last year it was exceeded.
The commission did put the public works/road and bridge levy at 27 cents per $100 assessed valuation, which is the rate it's been for several years.
The commission will decide next week where to set the levies.