The Union County Quorum Court will consider a proposal for the 2023 operating budget next month, and last month, they got a preview of what next year's budget might look like.
During their regular monthly meeting on Oct. 20, Justices of the Peace received a two-page summary of the budget proposal the Quorum Court's finance committee has been working on this fall.
"It's a pretty-well finalized budget at this point," District 1 JP Mike Dumas, who chairs the Quorum Court's finance committee, said, urging other JPs to reach out to him with any questions about the budget summary.
The proposal distributed last month outlines a $3.8 million drop in potential spending, largely attributable to the absence of COVID-19 relief that flowed to the county during 2022, which account for a $2.5 million reduction.
Also notable is a nearly $700,000 drop in the county's solid waste budget.
Dumas explained in an email Thursday that the finance committee didn't cut any county departments' budgets, instead basing the draft budget off proposals made by the departments themselves.
"We asked for the departments to submit their budgets without salary increases. We asked them to be smart and only ask for what they needed," he said.
The industrial waste program budget line stands to decrease by about $44,000; the victim's assistance fund by just under $10,000; and the emergency service budget by about $86,000.
The sheriff's office budget is set to drop by just over $300,000; the county judge's by about $8,000; the county clerk's by almost $47,000; the circuit clerk's by about $35,000; the treasurer's by $43,000; and the tax collector's by more than $76,000, as well.
"Our anticipated revenues are up slightly. Reduced population cut revenues some," Dumas said.
But, some offices' allocations are also slated to be boosted if this budget is passed. The county jail could receive an extra $144,000 next year, plus an additional $10,000 in the jail's operating and maintenance budget, and the highway department budget line could grow by more than $550,000.
Many other county departments would see no change in their annual budgets under this proposal.
The budget summary also notes that $4,816,210.12 is expected to remain in county coffers at the end of 2022.
Dumas said on Thursday he'd had one question about the proposal since the Quorum Court met last month: one person asked if the finance committee had or would consider raises for county employees.
"The finance committee wanted to wait until after the first of the year before we consider pay increases. We want to see the actual revenue numbers for the year before looking at raises," Dumas said. "The committee has agreed to look at increases in the first quarter of the new year."
The Quorum Court will consider the budget draft at this month's meeting, scheduled to be held Thursday, Nov. 17, at 10 a.m. in the third-floor conference room at the Union County Courthouse.