By DEBRA HAIGHT
ST. JOSEPH – Berrien County Financial Services Director Doug James presented the 2022 budget to Berrien County Commissioners during a public hearing last week. Commissioners are expected to approve the new budget later this month or in early December.
The proposed new budget is the culmination of months of work by county staff across all departments. Commissioners held budget workshops in mid-September to go over budget details which county administration then took to develop the final product
Last week, James gave a general outline of the full county budget as well as more details about specific parts of the budget. He said the total government budget calls for revenue of $173.163 million, expenditures of $180.791 million and a decrease in fund balance of $7.629 million. In comparison, the 2021 budget used $10 million of fund balance.
The primary government budget calls for revenue of $147.193 million which represents an increase of $7.423 million or 5.3 percent. That budget also sets expenditures at $154.822 million which represents an increase of $4.881 million or 3.3 percent.
Revenue will be going up for a variety of reasons including an increase in property tax revenue from a rise in taxable property values. On the expenditure side, one of the biggest increases comes in the area of personnel costs. The county is expected to employ 16 more people in 2022 for a total of just less than 806 full-time employees.
James gave commissioners a preview of the county millage rates they will be asked to approve at their Nov.18 meeting. Those rates are 4.7680 mills for general county operations, .0999 mill for county parks, .4495 mill for the 911 emergency system, .3496 mill for law enforcement and public safety and .2997 mill to operate seven senior centers.
He also commented on specific issues such as the county’s share of recreational marijuana revenue and the county’s receipt of American Rescue Plan Act revenue. He expects the county to receive $1 million for the county’s share of recreational marijuana revenue from businesses operating in the county.
As for the $30 million the county expects to get in ARPA funds, he said he has only budgeted $800,000 since the funds won’t be recognized in the budget until the county is ready to spend the money.
County Administrator said the county has one last union contract to settle and he expects the budget to have to be amended after the first of the year. In addition, he said facility and other studies are underway to give county commissioners guidance in how they will spend the ARPA funds.
“I told all departments to put items in the budget if they involved life safety issues but hold off on building maintenance projects until the facility master plan study is done,” he said.
Also last week, commissioners hired a new interim county health officer. Courtney Davis had been the interim health officer for the last few months after former health officer Nikki Britten resigned to take a position with Spectrum Lakeland Health. Davis resigned last Wednesday and cited the politicization of public health as one reason for her resignation.
The new interim health officer is Guy Miller. Miller, a St. Joseph native, is the epidemiologist with the health department. His appointment is contingent on approval from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and the Michigan State Health Director.
Miller’s salary will be $94,894. The agreement between the county and Miller states that he will be able to return to his previous duties as an epidemiologist when a permanent county health officer is appointed. He joined the health department six years ago and has nearly a decade of public health and healthcare education experience.
Dissette reported two weeks ago that he will be coming back to the county board in coming weeks with a proposal to engage an outside firm to find a pool of candidates for the permanent post.
In other health department related news, commissioners again heard from residents concerned about health department COVID pandemic mitigation actions. The issue last week was the use of state grant funds to pay for a contract and partnership between the health department and Berrien RESA on behalf of area schools.
The proposed contract called for the county to use funds from a state grant for “emerging health threats” to pay for the costs of the health department’s work with RESA and area schools. For RESA, the partnership with the health department would help them with parent approved COVID testing to help them keep students in school.
The proposal wasn’t popular with either residents or a majority of commissioners. A vote to execute the agreement between RESA and the health department failed on an 8-4 vote. Those voting to approve the agreement were Rayonte Bell, Robert Harrison, Michael Majerek and Don Meeks.
Opposed were County Board Chairman Mac Elliott and commissioners Jim Curran, Teri Freehling, Jon Hinkelman, Ezra Scott, Dave Vollrath, Julie Wuerfel and Mamie Yarbrough. A motion by Scott to table the matter for another week was withdrawn when several commissioners said they wouldn’t be changing their minds on it.
Elliott said he had questions about the contact tracing and quarantining aspects of the agreement. “Is there a quarantine timeline in terms of days that’s being passed down from the CDC to the MDHHS and then to the county?” he asked. “If so, is that in any way compelling schools to mask children to reduce quarantine guidelines?”
A number of commissioners said they don’t think the county should not be involved in parental affairs. “We have no right to get involved in the medical decisions of parents, it’s not the board’s responsibility,” Scott said.
In action, commissioners authorized negotiating a contract with Motorola for the purchase of new radios as well as building a new communications tower near Buchanan. Dissette said the action allows the county to lock in pricing and discounts for the tower. The project will cost $7.8 million and will be paid for in part with a $5 million state grant.
The county board meets only once move in November as Nov. 11 and 25 are holidays.
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