Scott Co. Commission OKs budget

~ No members of the public came to the meeting.

BENTON, Mo. -- The Scott County Commission passed its 2007 budget 3-0 at a public hearing Thursday morning at the county courthouse in Benton.

The state-mandated deadline for passing the budget is Feb. 1, but commissioners got a jump on receiving budget requests from department heads and passed their budget estimates a week before the deadline. The commission -- Presiding Commissioner Jamie Burger, Commissioner Dennis Ziegenhorn and newly appointed Commissioner Ron McCormick -- hammered out the budget during daily meetings last week.

No members of the public were present for the short meeting, but commissioners, led by Burger, discussed some of the details of the budget regardless.

Burger said the commission was able to honor most of the requests from department heads, except for the hiring of additional employees. The commission added no new positions to its budget, but the sheriff's department was able to add an employee through grant funds, Burger said.

"The elected officials' request weren't out of line, but there were some adjustments made," Burger said.

The 2007 budget was similar to the budget for 2006. In the county's three largest operating funds -- general revenue, road and bridge and law enforcement -- estimated expenditures of roughly $4.2 million, $1.2 million and $3.5 million respectively were factored into the budget.

Commissioners reiterated their concerns about the status of the county's communications center fund. A general trend of falling revenue from a 911 tax on land-line phone service alarms county commissioners, despite an estimated increase of almost $4,000 from the tax over 2006, from $178,787.84 in 2006 to $182,475 estimated this year.

The fund's estimated expenditures in 2007 total $418,000.

Ziegenhorn said the trend toward a loss in revenue from the 911 tax, due to county residents switching service to cell phones, will be a challenge during the year. Burger and Ziegenhorn said they hope the state legislature will address the issue in the current session.

msanders@semissourian.com

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