The Polk County Board of Commissioners met inside the Polk County Government Center on Tuesday morning, where they heard from County Administrator Chuck Whiting, who came forward to discuss their budget for 2023, among other items.
County Administrator Chuck Whiting first came forward to discuss the State Auditing Service with the board. He explained that they had to make a decision by their meeting on Tuesday, July 26, if they would be moving on from the current State Auditor that they had, as they would have to let them know now if they would so they could plan their work accordingly. Currently, the State Auditor is discussing the 2021 audit and will conduct this year’s audit next. So, they needed to discuss the next cycle for 2023 and 2024. Which meant if the board chose to move on from the State Auditor, there would be two audits for the new auditor to conduct, which he didn’t want to bring in to train new people to take. Whiting admitted that it would be easier to stay with who they currently have but would like to see them improve, and nothing wrong with the State Auditors, but that they may not give what the staff wants them to fund. “They had some discussion two weeks ago. Then today, we talked about it some more. I didn’t have any real alternative, so they chose to stay with it,” Whiting explained. “Four years ago, they chose to move from the State Auditor, and two years ago, we were in that pandemic, so we stayed, so we’ll stay again, which that means that in addition to the 2021 and 2022 audits, we’ll also have 2023 and 2024 audits done by the State Auditor, and they do a good job. We don’t ever know what it’s going to actually cost us, but there’s no arguing with them once it’s done.” Commissioner Willhite also recommended that they stay with the State Auditor for now, but when they next have to change, they will learn some better ways to use their funds. After much discussion, the board agreed to stay with the State Auditor and approved the motion unanimously.
Whiting then requested the board to give him the authority to sign expense claim vouchers for payment granted to Department Heads Wade Farrell for a Land Fill Fund, Todd Rue, and Wade Burrack for a Resource Recovery Fund expense vouchers of their respective approved departmental budgets by County Policy. Whiting then requested the board to approve the posting and advertising of the now vacant Facilities Director Position (and potentially Assistant Director) with some new changes that he wanted to have reviewed and recommended to the business management side of the position. These changes included distinguishing “office” buildings as the primary focus of the position, classifying the position now as a Grade 19 rather than 17. “Every time we have a vacancy, we look at the job description and see if there’s something that we should address. I looked at it and brought a little bit more into the description from a business management standpoint,” Whiting explained. “I think we learned from our prior director with the number of things he was working on that those brought value to the county, and we would like to see that continue and progress. So, we did add that it changes the grade by two, so we’ll see what the market will give us for applicants.” Whiting reported that they have received one application already for the position and are currently engaged in hiring that individual. After much discussion, the board both motions unanimously.
The board closed the meeting by beginning the discussions on the 2023 Budget. Whiting began by first referring to their budget from 2022 and that there were many things that would impact the budget. “We picked up from where we left off when we got the 2022 budget approved, and it’s amazing how many things have changed since then in terms of inflation, gas prices, and even the marketplace for employees. We’re getting a lot of pressure in these three areas,” Whiting explained. “We wanted to go over what might be coming, what those things may mean, and what kind of pressures that may put on the budget and the levee and so forth.” Whiting explained that the county’s department heads had received their input sheets, and they have until Friday, July 22, to work on them before they return them to him. He can get an initial counting of them and what revenues they have with the Finance Director. Then by the end of August, he would have a proposal for the board. Then in September, they will invite each department head to meet with the board to discuss them individually. He mentioned that last year, their biggest expenditures for 2022 were for Social Services at $18,776,457 and that generally, they have been flat overall in tax rates over the past few years. Overall, he reported that they are looking okay, day-to-day though will be more accurate when they have more information in the future on the levees.
The next meeting will take place on Tuesday, July 19, at 9:30 a.m. in the Polk County Government Center.
