Waldo County Budget Committee Advances New Rule on Information Requests

The Waldo County Budget Committee voted 5-1 to require that requests for budget information made to commissioners or the finance director be brought before committee members present and approved by vote before submission. Members also reviewed the human resources, communications, registry of deeds, district attorney, commissioners and records preservation budgets, and approved a change to how the percent-of-change column is calculated. The committee tabled review of its minutes until the next day's meeting.

Key points

• The committee voted 5-1 to require budget information requests to be discussed and approved by members present before being sent to commissioners or the finance director; one member objected that legitimate questions could be outvoted.
• Members reviewed several department budgets, including human resources, communications, registry of deeds, district attorney, commissioners and records preservation, with department heads explaining increases and cuts.
• The committee approved a motion to update the percent-of-change column across the budget to reflect the change from the approved budget to the commissioner-requested amount, rather than the department request.
• The committee approved requests for updated reserve account balances and for the general fund balance.
• A member withdrew a request to question the auditor after learning commissioners met with the auditor and that a recorded presentation on the 2024 audit is being prepared.
• Members raised concerns about the size of wage and market rate adjustments and asked commissioners to consider spreading them over multiple years; commissioners said the adjustments reflect hiring costs already being paid.

Next steps

• Review and vote on the meeting minutes at the next day's meeting.
• Provide updated reserve account balances and the general fund balance to the committee.
• Update the percent-of-change column in the budget spreadsheets to reflect commissioner-requested amounts.
• Continue the budget review the next day with facilities, finance, information technology and special appropriations.

Read the full transcript The agenda