This year's Scott County budget to have new priorities

BENTON, Mo. -- Scott County commissioners are continuing a review of budget priorities in preparation for Thursday, when they'll vote on the 2006 financial plan.

For the most part, commissioners say the budget has few significant differences from last year's, but there are some new priorities.

Among them are increasing money for emergency preparedness, which will help purchase equipment and provide training for emergency response.

The budget for emergency preparedness will likely go from about $38,000 last year to $66,000 in 2006. Commissioners have stressed the importance of emergency preparedness since Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast.

Commissioners also revealed more specifics about their priority to start electronically archiving county documents. No sure figures have been hammered down on the cost, but commissioners have budgeted $100,000 to begin a program of storing old documents either digitally or on microfilm.

The county plans to seek help from the secretary of state's office to comply with the legal guidelines for open records, and county will likely use a contract service to handle record storage.

"No matter what we do we have to follow what the law says," said Commissioner Jamie Burger.

Other changes to the budget are the addition of personnel in some departments. Commissioners are expected to approve increases in staff at the sheriff's department, where Rick Walter has asked for two more road deputies, and possibly other departments.

Some added costs will be offset by what won't be spent. In 2005, the county used funds to build a new, centralized 911 center in Benton and to buy new paving equipment for the road and bridge department.

Those large expenses won't be part of this year's budget.

One concern for county officials is declining revenue from the E-911 telephone tax.

E-911 administrator Joe Burton said the county will begin exploring ways to contract its dispatching services to police departments and ambulance districts in the county that don't currently use county dispatching.

Burton said the county dispatching center has detailed mapping of the entire county, whereas other dispatching centers in small towns often do not.

By contracting with those small towns for dispatching services, the county could recoup some lost E-911 tax revenue and improve emergency service to residents, Burger said.

A public budget approval hearing will take place at 11:30 a.m. Thursday at the Scott County Courthouse.

msanders@semissourian.com

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