Commissioners OK Budget Increases
Tuesday, county commissioners’ approved emergency fund increases to counter expense overages for the sheriff’s office, district court and indigent health program.
The sheriff’s office budget for fiscal year 2008 got a boost of $33,755.84, most of it to cover unbudgeted overtime.
"It bit us this time," county auditor John Shinn said.
The situation prompted Precinct 3 Commissioner Kelles Miller to suggest a stricter policy on overtime for the department.
"If we don’t get a policy in place, it will never change. I’m not intending to beat them out of anything, but we just need to get some kind of policy in place," he said.
Shinn said that of the total amount requested for the emergency increase, $14,320 was for overtime through Sept. 30.
Another $4,160 was for overtime incurred during the recent hurricane-related operations and $15,275 of the total was tied to accrued compensation for two sheriff’s office employees leaving the department in October.
The $85,000 added to the district court budget will help cover court-appointed attorneys’ fees, the bills for which will continue to come in during the next two months.
"It was $386 under budget two weeks ago," Shinn said about the district court budget. "There is just no way to predict what those bills yet to come in will add up to."
Van Zandt County Judge Rhita Koches reiterated that outstanding bills for attorneys’ fees had to be applied to the fiscal year 2008 county budget.
"For the most part, we try to cut it off on Dec. 1 so we can close the books on that year’s budget," she said.
Fees for court-ordered psychiatric evaluations were also part of the reason for the budget shortfall, Shinn said.
Indigent health was given another $42,000 by the court. The money was primarily needed to cover higher-than-expected medical expenses, Shinn explained.
The court also approved a set of line item budget amendments for fiscal year 2008, including those for the district clerk and road and bridge funds for Van Zandt County Precincts 2, 3 and 4.