County budget adopted

By JoAn Bjarko
North Forty News

By the time Dec. 17 rolled around, Larimer County Commissioners had already decided what to include in the 2005 budget to be adopted that day. The only debate was a suggestion by Commissioner Glenn Gibson to restrict how the sheriff's department spends money allocated for new deputies.

Commissioners have little control over how other elected officials spend their budgets, but they do approve all new positions. In this budget, the commissioners designated $560,000 for five new deputies plus $150,000 for their vehicles. Gibson wanted a statement in writing that the sheriff could not use the money for any other purpose.

Commissioners Tom Bender and Kathay Rennels disagreed, however, saying it was unfair. "We shouldn't discriminate against one department," Bender said.

Gibson countered that this year the sheriff did not spend his personnel budget as allocated by the commissioners, and he didn't want it to happen again. "We're talking about a half million," he said. "I'm saying that if we put that kind of dollars into it, that's where it's used."

Rennels responded that a lot more people than the commissioners will be asking questions if Sheriff Jim Alderden doesn't spend the money on deputies. To single out his department would not help the relationship between the sheriff and commissioners, she added.

Gibson's motion was defeated 2-1, and the commissioners then voted 3-0 to adopt the $237,558,276 budget.

Adjustments made in the past couple months include financial support for several programs that had been cut in the proposed budget. They include $20,000 for the senior tax work-off program, $13,000 to keep an extension office employee working full time and $60,000 to restore the victim advocate program in the sheriff's department.

To pay for the programs, the commissioners set county employee merit increases at 2 percent instead of the proposed 3 percent increase. In some years, merit increases are as high as 5 percent.

The commissioners also set the county mill levy for 2005 at 22.517 mills, which includes 0.75 mills for Foothills Gateway, a program that helps developmentally disabled adults.

Budget information is available on the county's web site at www.larimer.org/budget or by calling the budget office at 498-7017.