Greene County Commission gives employee raises, cuts back on health department in budget

With the end of 2023 in sight, the Greene County Commission has been at work balancing a budget for the next calendar year. Sales tax revenue has declined, while inflation has pushed costs up. After starting with more than $16.6 million in requests that exceeded the recommended budget, commissioners had some tough decisions to make.

Despite the downward trend in revenue, the county budget office expects sales tax to rebound early next year and has budgeted a 5% increase from this year in overall revenue. Amid inflation and a competitive job market, the commission also emphasized the need to provide county employees with a cost-of-living adjustment to their pay.

"Especially in times of difficulty, but really always, our people are a priority," Presiding Commissioner Bob Dixon said at one of the meetings.

Focus on COLA, employees

County Budget Officer Jeff Scott said personnel make up the largest portion of expenses.

The budget process started out with the goal of a 5% COLA as this was the regional consumer price index. While the Commission decided that this was not something the county could afford, they settled on a 4.5% COLA for all employees, amounting to almost $3 million in budget increases. This is still higher than the Social Security COLA of 3.2% for next year.

The pay raise will go into effect for county employees on the first paycheck in January. Traditionally, the budget includes a 1% COLA and a mid-year step increase of 1.5%. The traditional mid-year raise will still be come for eligible employees, on top of the 4.5% COLA. The lowest wage for county employees will increase from $15.04 to $15.72 per hour after the COLA increase.

Additionally, other salary improvements for personnel were made across departments. Scott said the largest went to commissioned employees at the sheriff's office, with raises totaling $1.7 million. This will account for at least $2 per hour increase for each commissioned employee.

Projecting higher revenues, cutting costs

The Greene County Jail boards federal inmates through a contract with the U.S. Marshals Service. In December 2021 the jail averaged 311 federal inmates per day, but the number lagged behind in 2022 and 2023. Scott said throughout this year, the average number was around 108 per day despite budgeting for higher numbers.

For each federal inmate, the county receives $100 per day. With fewer federal inmates coming in, revenue from this program has declined, providing another challenge in the budget.

For next year, the sheriff has secured another contract with the U.S. Marshals Service and is expecting an average of 300 federal inmates per day. An increase of 160 inmates from what was initially expected will account for more than $5.8 million in additional revenue, with about 32% of that making up the increase in expenses for the jail.

The commission decided to cut back on the funding they had previously provided to the Springfield-Greene County Health Department. Last year's budget included $1,150,000 for the department's administrative services. This year, despite the department requesting more than $3 million, the commission cut its allocation back to a $1 million. This does not include the money going toward animal control and the new animal shelter.

Scott said with the health department being a partnership between the city and the county the request was made as a percentage share of the population and commitment to public health, without detailed information about what in particular the money will fund. He said the county invests other money into public health that may not be directly through the health department.

While public health is funded through a special revenue fund at the city level, for the county the funds come out of the general revenue. Scott said that may mean that city revenues are growing, leading the department to request a proportional increase from the county, which may not see the same growth.

Aside from the increase in administrative costs, the health department also requested funds for the new Family Connects program and window and HVAC replacement programs. The commission denied both of those requests, noting that they are supportive of the Family Connects program and will issue a letter of support to assist the department to receive more grant funding, but cannot take something new on during a year of budget challenges.

Jail, sheriff's office considers changes

The jail and its inmates were also a topic of other budget items in need of decision. While previously much of the lawncare for the county campus had been taken care of by the inmate workforce, Scott said the population of inmates who would qualify for the workforce, those with lower-level offenses, has been on the decline, opening up the need for a paid service to pick up the lawncare.

The commission decided to pay about $27,000 for a commercial lawn service to take care of the main county campus while the sheriff's property and jail area will still be covered by the workforce.

A taxi service offered to those leaving the jail also will be cut back to save costs. Currently, the service provides rides to fourteen locations, including transportation hubs, hospitals, courthouses and transitional service providers, for those leaving the jail.

"When our jail was on the main campus, people would just be released at the main county campus," Scott said. "With our new facility being over close to the airport, not centrally located, we thought that that was not a viable way of doing things anymore."

The estimated costs for the program to continue as is were $35,000. In an attempt to cut costs, the jail next year will offer rides to only one central location, costing about $14 per ride with a total expense of $32,000 for the year. This number could be even lower if the service goes out to bid, which commissioners supported. Capt. Kenny Weatherford at the sheriff's office said the location had not yet been decided but it will be one that will be open 24 hours and provide resources.

The requested budget also included $5,000 for a sheriff's retirement fund. New state legislation passed this summer establishes a Sheriffs' Retirement System and as a part of that requires 5% of the sheriff's pay to go toward the system. Dixon at one of the decision meetings was wary of the legality if the county was to pay the 5% from revenue on behalf of the sheriff, arguing instead that the 5% would need to come from the sheriff's paycheck. Greene County Sheriff Jim Arnott expressed his frustration that this would essentially result in a cut in his take-home pay.

More: New law, state funding bring mental health treatment into jails, including Greene County

At the final decision meeting, from which Dixon was absent, the commissioners decided to budget for a $6,000 contribution to the retirement fund, which Arnott said would be closer to the 5% mark, without having it come directly from the sheriff's office budget. The allocation will be decided after the county has a chance to look into the legality.

Next year's budgeted total expenses came to over $259 million, landing in the middle between the initial request of $263 million and the initial recommended amount of $246 million. On Jan. 10, the budget will receive a public hearing and commission will vote on final approval.

Marta Mieze covers local government at the News-Leader. Contact her with tips at mmieze@news-leader.com.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Greene County 2024 budget focused on raises, brings tough decisions