Logan County Board Briefs for December

 

[January 05, 2021] 

At the Regular Logan County Board meeting on Tuesday, December 15, the board voted on several matters.

Finance Committee updates

Finance Committee items approved included going out for a bid for a $1 Million Tax Anticipation Warrant for next year’s expenses.

The county goes out for bids on the Tax Anticipation Warrant annually. Since property taxes do not come in until later in the fiscal year and constitute a significant amount, the county prepares to borrow against that revenue. The tax anticipation warrant aids the county in paying bills on time.

Hepler said this practice started ten years ago and it is like a line of credit for a business. It is a responsible approach to put it in place if needed. Last year, Hepler said the county did not draw anywhere near the full amount, but only what is minimally necessary.

New Finance Committee Chairman Steve Jenness also brought forward a motion to approve a crediting line item for $4,000 for Assessor’s Office Deputy. He then asked that it be sent back to committee for further discussion.

There was an expectation of a modest increase in pay after trainings and David Hepler said $4,000 would cover the increase. The public needs to know employees have a high level of training. He said it is a very modest and well-deserved investment in these employees in the assessor’s office.

The county voted last month to take $4,000 out of line items for extra help and for appraisal software from the assessor’s budget to help cover the salary. However, Hepler, who was then chairing the committee, made an unintentional error and forgot to make a motion to credit the line item.

Buildings and Grounds Committee

The board approved up to $5,000 for drain repairs at Safety Complex. Committee Chairman David Blankenship said this part of the project needs to be completed before determining if additional funding is needed to complete repair.

Road and Bridge Committee updates

Other expenditures voted on included the appropriation of funds for payment of the county engineer’s salary and using the county’s Surface Transportation Program funds for half of county engineer’s salary.

The board then approved a resolution for use of Motor Fuel Tax Funds for payroll related expenses.

The county’s Surface Transportation Program and Motor Fuel Tax funds help cover salaries and payroll related expenses every year.

When asked about the payroll related expenses, Logan County Highway Engineer Bret Aukamp said they do not include salary increases.

Appointments

The board unanimously approved reappointments to county land use oversight groups:

Blair Hoerbert and Tom Anderson to the Regional Planning Commission.

Cheryl Baker, Scott Noltensmeier and Bret Farmer to the Logan County Zoning Board of Appeals.

After voting on the action items, the board went into executive session to discuss personnel matters.

Board members present either in person or remotely were Board Chairman Emily Davenport, Vice Chairman Scott Schaffenacker, David Blankenship, Janet Estill, Cameron Halpin, David Hepler, Steve Jenness, Keenan Leesman, Bob Sanders, Annette Welch and Jim Wessbecher. Bob Farmer was absent.

[Angela Reiners]