The Henderson County Fiscal Court is nearing approval of a $36 million-plus budget for next fiscal year.
The $36.4 million spending plan that county government officials discussed Monday signifies an increase of about $2.5 million over the current year’s budget, most of which comes from significantly higher health insurance payments that the county is budgeting to cover employee claims.
The proposed budget contains a $3.125 million planned expenditure for insurance costs, a nearly $1 million increase over last year’s budgeted $2.16 for the same line item.
Judge-Executive Brad Schneider said the increase is due to claims employees made this year that totaled much higher than previous years. He said the proposal for insurance costs in the next budget is equal to what the county paid in claims this year.
“We had some very expensive claims (this year),” Schneider said.
The county government is self-insured, which means county government manages its insurance through its provider, Anthem, and help from a third-party consultant.
Schneider said when claims are low, the county can save a great deal of money.
“When it’s good, it’s really good,” he said.
But a rough year with such a small pool can lead to higher costs, which is what occurred this fiscal year, he said.
County government employees have not paid higher insurance costs for the past seven years. But magistrates at the meeting said that might not be able to continue if the Fiscal Court continues to have to bear the brunt of the high cost of claims.
“If it goes up again next year, we can’t continue to eat this,” Magistrate Taylor Tompkins said.
Additionally, Schneider mentioned an insurance plan from the Kentucky Association of Counties that local county government could buy into the future when it becomes available, which is more than a year away. He said the KACo plan may not always end up being less expensive but would provide a more stable barometer on which to plan a budget each year, i.e. the costs are fixed.
Most of the rest of the budget increase—roughly $1.5 million—were made up of a smattering of many smaller increases of department needs.
Notable figures include a $10,000 raise to Kurt Wiesen, the current fiscal court clerk who Schneider is proposing to promote to deputy judge. In the proposal Wiesen would make $65,000 per year and will be given added duties, including procurement of equipment.
Sheriff Chip Stauffer is requesting to bump the maintenance/repairs/equipment line item of his budget to $90,000, a huge increase from the current budget’s $1,500. That increase will cover the purchase of Flock cameras used for surveillance, especially in areas deemed more susceptible to illegal dumping, purchase portable radios and provide vehicles for school resource officers.
Jailer Bruce Todd is proposing to increase the detention center’s budget for deputy salaries from $2.8 million to $3.2 million.
The Monday budget discussion included county government department and constitutional office heads.
Schneider said a second work session will occur later in May with a main task to determine the funding the county will award to local nonprofits.
Schneider said that the proposed budget will get a first reading at the May 28 Fiscal Court meeting, followed by a second reading in June so that it can be approved before the start of the fiscal year on July 1.
