Committee OKs budget increases

JPs fret over $5 million gap between spending, revenue

FAYETTEVILLE — Justices of the peace approved budget increases for the Washington County circuit clerk, public defender and Election Commission during a Finance and Budget Committee meeting Tuesday.

The approvals came as justices of the peace struggle to reduce a $68 million budget or come up with revenue to close the $5 million gap between spending and revenue.

Time is running short to bring up ideas for revenue, find money in the budget, raise the property millage rate or make cuts, said Justice of the Peace Eva Madison, a Democrat representing northeastern Fayetteville and committee chairwoman.

The only other scheduled budget meeting is Oct. 24. The committee plans to consider county judge, assessor and prosecuting attorney requests, Madison said.

Madison said she wants to finalize the budget in November. The Quorum Court has until the end of December to finalize its budget, under state law.

On Tuesday, Circuit Clerk Kyle Sylvester asked justices of the peace to approve hiring two clerks next year. The money will come from the recorder’s cost fund. That could impact money typically turned back over to the general fund, Sylvester said.

The recorder’s fund is meant to cover Circuit Clerk costs, but anything over $1 million goes into the general fund, according to state law.

The two positions are needed to reduce staff overtime, part-time position pay and backlogged legal paperwork, Sylvester said. Salaries combined are about $53,000, according to records.

The Public Defender’s Office’s budget request increased $3,100, mostly for office need, staff said.

The Election Commission’s budget increased significantly over last year because 2018 will have primary and general elections, said Jennifer Price, commission executive director.

Next year’s Election Commission budget is $395,346, up from $354,413 in 2016, the most similar, recent year, records show. The commission plans to spend about $38,000 on machines to shorten voter wait times next year, too, commissioners said.

Justices of the peace also approved a budget for the Quorum Court, which decreased slightly.

In other news, justices of the peace put money back into the County Attorney’s budget after Justice of the Peace Daniel Balls pointed out County Judge Joseph Wood is proposing to cut pay for a contract attorney position handling Family In Needs of Service cases.

Balls is a Democrat representing northern Fayetteville.

The Family In Need of Services — or FINS — attorney handles cases involving troubled youth, including truancy cases. The yearly contract for the position is renewed Jan. 1.

The position was budgeted for about $73,000 this year, but the contract would drop to about $35,000 under next year’s budget, according to the proposed budget. Balls said he worried less money available would

mean less qualified candidates filling the role.

The decision doesn’t impact any decisions. The county judge is over contracts and can choose whether to spend the money, said Justice of the Peace Joel Maxwell, a Republican representing western Washington County. The Quorum Court has no say, Madison agreed.

“We can’t force them to spend it,” she said.