The county budget for 2022-2023 was finalized and approved last week, as the county commissioners voted in favor of a motion to approve the budget during their Thursday meeting.

Please follow this link for a chart comparing the budgets of county departments from 21-23 and 22-23.

https://www.powderriverexaminer.com/home/customer_files/specialpubs/2022-23_county_budget.jpg

Here's the Manor budget:

https://www.powderriverexaminer.com/home/customer_files/specialpubs/2022-23_nursing_home_budget.jpg

Overall the county budget increased by nearly three million dollars compared to last year. Increases in fuel cost, the ongoing inflation that is being felt worldwide, and a cost of living increase for county employees and elected officials are major reasons for the budget increase, as well as money budgeted to replace several bridges in the county.

Nearly all of the budget increase is offset by additional revenue and grants, according to the commissioners. A large portion of the additional revenue comes from additional oil and gas revenue, as well as nearly double the mineral royalties earned by the county last year. BARSAA funds, which are state fuel tax revenues returned to local governments will also provide over $300,000 in money for the county. Bridge renovation funds to replace the Little Powder, Pilgrim Creek, and Horse Creek bridges totaling nearly 3 million have been budgeted, with the state recouping the majority of funds when projects are complete.

An increase in local taxes distributed amongst the taxpayers totaling just over $39,000 will take place, the bulk of which will go to the ambulance service, which was taken over by Powder River County in 2021.

At the compensation board meeting this summer a 3.5% cost of living increase was approved for elected officials to cover some of the increased costs of inflation. A $1 increase in pay across the board has also been approved for county employees, while deputies in various offices received a percentage increase commensurate with their elected official counterpart’s raise.

When looking at specific budgets in the accompanying charts, increases are most often due to increased wages. We looked into departmental budgets which saw a major increase in 2022-23 to see what was going on.

The Sheriff’s department saw a 29% increase in budget, in large part due to the increase in wages. Wages are also a major factor in increases at the clinic and public health, which have changed their budget around this year due to changes in staffing. Wage increases are also a large part of the Manor’s budget increase, which went up over $50,000.

The road department’s increase of $780,001 is due in large part to hiring of contract trucks and crushing of gravel, while increases in fuel budget are also a factor.

Replacement of repeater towers means an increase in that line item’s budget, while major repairs and new lighting at the county scales means a nearly $50,000 increase in the scale repair budget.

The community center has additional money budgeted for updates in the kitchen and new chairs, and the multipurpose arena has funds budgeted towards potential equipment purchases.

The increase in public transportation budget of over $100,000 is in large part due to the purchase of a new bus, with grants going to cover the majority of those funds.

County Superintendent of Schools budget increases are due to insurance.

Several items showing a decrease in budget include the Treasurer’s office, where one position is being cut for the time being, and a decrease in the airport budget of around $45,000 due to the ongoing hangar project which has been pushed out further into the future. Last year the planning and research budget was increased for a feasibility study on a critical care hospital; this year that line item is back to a standard amount.

We left out several small grants and endowments from the budget list to save space, several of which are only in the hundreds of dollars and are one time occurrences. That means the savvy reader totaling up the numbers will not reach the total budget number, but those numbers are accounted for in the total budget available at the courthouse.

If anyone has questions regarding the budget, the commissioners are available at 406-436-2657.