Originally published in the print edition of the Yellowstone County News.
BILLINGS — Probably never before has Yellowstone County faced so many building needs going into the budget-setting process. Most of that need is being driven by unprecedented demand on the judicial system, from law enforcement and jail expansion, to accommodating additional judges and jail diversion programs.
Anticipation of looming building costs is putting the squeeze on all other departments. The county’s finance director, Kevan Bryan, said that in preparing for budget hearings this week, departments were asked not only to live within their budgets of last year, but also to look for areas where they might even cut those budgets.
The adjustments resulted in $100,000 in less spending in the General Fund alone, Bryan told County Commissioners, on Monday, as they began their first series of meetings with department heads to review the budgets of each. The county projects a $94.2 million budget in total expenditures.
The overall estimate for county taxes levied is $43.85 million (not including the Big Sky Economic Development levy). The county’s revenue budget, which includes revenues from sources other than taxes, is projected to be $85.2 million in FY2016-17, up $3.5 million over last year. Bryan said that the preliminary budget projects no movement in the countywide levy.
Bryan said that the budget was prepared assuming an overall increase of 1.70 percent, which includes an estimated 1.2 percent increase in net taxable value and a 0.59 percent inflation factor, which is set by the state. The county could get an increase in entitlement funding from the state, but since that is not known at this time, Bryan said he projected no increase in that funding, which was set up years ago to compensate counties when the state assumed vehicle tax revenues.
There were requests for additional staff from some departments. The jail diversion program is asking to hire three full-time positions to move forward a pilot program that had been operating with one staff person, on a 10-month commitment. The sheriff needs two detention offices and a new sergeant for the detention facility. MetraPark needs an additional FTE for concessions and an event coordinator and a .75 FTE in the Metra admissions department.
After hearing a report from Justice of the Peace David Carter about the effectiveness of the risk assessment pilot program (jail diversion) that the county undertook a year ago to help reduce the number of inmates, the commissioners committed to continuing the program with one employee, but will decide about the request for the other two later in the budgeting process.
The increasing demands on the budget are all happening within a budget that is constrained in tax revenues because of tax protests.
In May 2015 and November 2015, CHS Inc. protested about 61 percent ($6.6 million out of the $10.9 million) of their property taxes levied. Along with other protests, including those of read more
