Budget Review and County Code Enforcement
On Monday, May 20th, the Adams County Commissioners met for their regular meeting. Monday was budget review day, and throughout the morning the commissioners looked over proposed budgets for the various county departments and discussed changes.
Building inspector, Kody Williams, decided he will no longer be acting as a code enforcer because he is not properly trained to do that. Applying stop work orders and knocking on doors is not working, and some people are getting combative. He had two ideas for the commissioners about how to start enforcing building codes, one was to put marks on the deeds, so that it will follow the property. The second option is a code enforcement officer, which costs money, but he thought maybe they could pay them a percentage of what they bring in for the county. Planning and Zoning also said they could use a code enforcement officer, and so has the city. Commissioner Daren Ward mentioned he thought it might not be legal to pay a code enforcer like that, and while he can see a need, he doesn’t think it’s something they have in the budget. Commissioner Joe Iveson asked if he can send letters, Williams said he’s been doing that, but it’s not working. Commissioner Viki Purdy was wondering what exactly was going on.
Williams said most violations are full houses that have been built without permits, without planning and zoning approval, have been built in a flood plain, etc. There are probably around 40 that are complete houses in the county. A quarter of those are very poorly built, he called them essentially pallet construction. Also there are many shops that have been turned into houses. Commissioner Ward said code enforcement is the most dangerous law enforcement job out there. He doesn’t think they can turn a blind eye to houses though, outbuildings he doesn’t think are worth worrying about. Commissioner Iveson asked what a code enforcer would even do? Commissioner Ward said it would be a civil penalty. Commissioner Purdy asked what the implications of the mark on the deed would be? Banks would not be able to loan on it, but they would still be able to sell. Commissioner Iveson said point blank there isn’t the budget for a code enforcer, and this really needs to be done through letter. Commissioner Purdy mentioned that this is not a good time, people feel attacked everywhere they go, and she doesn’t want to be contributing to that. She wanted to know if the issue was just that it was cost prohibitive to people? Williams said not really, most would be less than $1500 for the permit cost. Meredith Fisher mentioned that this probably is a safety issue if they are not getting plumbing and electrical inspections, and that is something that should go on the deed because future owners need to know that. Williams said that for the most part, they looked to be well built, but there were some that were downright dangerous, for example there was a two story house that was built on concrete piers. Commissioner Iveson said Williams should talk to the prosecuting attorney to work out a letter.
As for the budget for the Building Department, travel went down, fuel went down, vehicle repairs went down. Office Supplies went up slightly because he was ending up having to buy things. He wrote in a 3% increase for wages, and another 3% for additional training if they choose to do it. Commissioner Iveson said they don’t know where they are yet with the 3% standard cost of living increase, but will be figuring it out after going through all the budgets. This was echoed throughout the day to every other department, as they were all told to put it in for now.
Meredith Fisher, with Planning and Zoning, talked for a bit about rock pits and some complaints they had. Another person would be applying for a rockpit soon and there were several residences within one mile, the residents have signed a letter saying they don’t mind but it is against ordinance. Budget for Planning and Zoning was mostly the same, she tried to reduce where she could, such as vehicle repairs since they are sharing a car with another office. The total amount is just under what it was last year. Shore Lodge Whitetail will be here next week to talk about the final plat.
Steve Shelton with Solid Waste said he put some extra on the budget for fuel costs and equipment repairs because everything is so expensive. Utilities, water, and sanitation he raised because he thinks they are going to have to switch companies and the new one is more. He would like to do a step increase for a couple employees if it’s feasible. Clerk Sherry Ward found that one phone was budgeted twice, so she thought they could eliminate one of those.
Shelton also wanted to ask if there was any extra for dust abatement in front of the transfer site. Adam Balderson, with Road and Bridge said there might be a little extra from another project. Sherry Ward cautioned if they add dust abatement in new places, but then don’t have the budget to continue there later, people get used to it and are very unhappy if it has to be cut later.
Adam Balderson said the Road and Bridge Budget is mostly the same. He’d like to get a smaller excavator, and will have to crush some rock later this year. Also he hasn’t gotten the traffic plan back yet so he’s not sure what projects will be there.
Sheriff Ryan Zollman said he put back in the detention position and the two patrol spots in the budget. He said the county has increased by over 1000 people in the last five years and calls for service have increased as well. Moreover, the level of calls are increasing and becoming an issue. He has a duty to provide two deputies to man most of these calls. Otherwise he is only asking for one patrol vehicle this year, he reached out to a leasing company but did not think it was worth it. Everything else is pretty much the same. Prisoner board has increased some due to rising food costs. Travel was cut by a few thousand. The jail had a few increases, he budgeted a little more for vehicle repairs and prisoner board. They try to utilize the federal surplus as much as possible to cut costs. For revenues, the only significant increase is inmates, he is confident that they will have a good number of them. There is such a need that other counties are starting to send them to Adams County, they don’t even have to go get them anymore. He did not request a raise on city contract this year because he did last year, but he plans to again next year.
Clerk Sherry Ward mentioned that the opioid money they received can be used to help fund a school resource officer, and there is currently 25k in that. Zollman said there is also a federal bill ready to be signed for grants to fund school resource officers at every school, and that might be available in the near future. They will be applying for it, but he’s not sure what it will look like yet. He’s thinking that they will probably give them one to split between the two schools, but he doesn’t know the details yet, it is probably at least 12-18 months out though. Commissioner Purdy was concerned about having another thing to be dependent on the federal government for though.
Commissioner Iveson said his only concern is how they are going to find the money for more deputies.
Treasurer Tonjua Spelman gave an update on bonds and investments, which are going well since interest rates are high. As far as budget, she isn’t really changing anything, aside from a small increase for postage and cutting back her part time girl a bit because she isn’t needing as much.
Casey Hunt, with IT, said her budget is down over $3000 overall. The main change is eliminating the cyber security budget, because she said the tools take a lot of time and expense and there are other things she can do that are less time consuming. Travel is down, annual contracts are up because those are increasing. She kept the Four Corners contract in because she thinks the value they are getting out of the contract is a lot more than what they are paying, and the resources will ultimately save them, even though they had originally planned to cut it completely. Commissioner Iveson said they would discuss it, and when they started to later he was not pleased it was in there, as one of the original justifications for hiring a full time IT person with benefits was to get rid of that contract. He wanted to discuss it more later.
Dave Herold with Weed Control said his budget hasn’t really changed since last year, he’s in good shape for equipment, chemical costs are holding steady and so is fuel so far. He invited everyone to come to the Weed Tour in Indian Valley next month.
After this the commissioners discussed the step/grade scale, but did not come to any conclusions and decided to wait until next week to discuss again. They also decided to cancel the meeting on June 10th due to not much on the schedule and people being out of town the first couple weeks of June.
