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St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Lee Enterprises

Sunday, November 9, 2008 8:26 PM CST
County board to vote on $10.9M budget

By DAVE FOPAY, Staff Writer
dfopay@jg-tc.com

CHARLESTON — A $10.9-million budget that a board member said is aimed at minimizing cost increases goes before the Coles County Board at its meeting tonight.

Member Mike Weaver, chairman of the board’s Finance Committee, said the panel had to use a 2.5 percent rate of inflation from last year to calculate the budget, though the current rate is closer to 4 percent. That’s because the property tax cycle means the budget had to be based on what the county’s income was from this year, he explained.

Weaver said the only raises above the cost of living went to employees of the County Animal Rescue and Education Center, some of whom were being underpaid.

The 2009 fiscal year budget, which is about $437,000 above the current year’s, also shows additional costs for the animal shelter for repairs and for the ongoing care of horses involved in a court case. There’s a possibility that the county could be reimbursed once the case concludes, but the expense still had to be included in the budget, Weaver said.

The board meets tonight instead of on its regular Tuesday meeting day because of Tuesday’s Veterans Day holiday.

Other votes scheduled for tonight’s meeting include:

n Approval of new employee health insurance plans and an increase in how much of the monthly premium the county covers.

The plans that will be offered to county employees for the fiscal year that begins Dec. 1 have premiums of $315, $398 or $467 per month, depending on the amount of coverage, deductibles and co-payments. The amount of the premium the county covers would increase by $20 a month to $300.

n Transferring $51,000 between two funds in the current budget so the money can be used next year for repairs to the county jail roof, an outside balcony at the courthouse and dog runs at the animal shelter.

The money is currently in a fund that would require that it be spent during the 2008 fiscal year, but moving it to the other fund would allow it to be spent later. The work won’t be scheduled until next spring.

n Approving agreements with Charleston Township to replace a bridge across Kickapoo Creek about two miles southwest of Charleston, and with East Oakland Township to replace a culvert about two miles southeast of Oakland.

Contact Dave Fopay at dfopay@jg-tc.com or 348-5733.

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