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Lincoln County Cuts More Than $500,000 from Annual Budget

Second year in a row the county has had to make cuts

By Justin Franz

For the second year in a row, the Lincoln County government has had to trim more than a half-million dollars from its annual budget. But county officials are optimistic that there’s a “light at the end of the tunnel.”

On Sept. 5, the Lincoln County Commission approved a 2019 budget of approximately $25 million, which is $507,906 less than it approved last year, according to County Administrator Darren Coldwell.

“Every department in the county made an effort to decrease its spending,” Coldwell said, adding that the cuts have been made in a way that will not significantly alter services.

The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office reduced its budget to about $3.6 million for fiscal year 2019 down from $4 million last year. Coldwell said Sheriff Roby Bowe found additional state and federal grants to cover the cost of vehicles and reduced the amount of overtime in the department.

Another area where the county is saving money is on health care costs. Although the county’s health insurance costs were slated to increase 4 percent next year, it’s actually decreased by nearly $70,000. Coldwell said that is the result of a program to encourage county employees to find insurance coverage elsewhere. If an employee can get covered through a spouse’s employer, the county will pay them a third of what they would have paid for insurance at the county. Coldwell said that could result in an extra $500 a month for employees.

The county has also not hired a new employee in the last few years. About four years ago, the county had 140 employees; this year it has 102 full-time, year-round employees. Coldwell said the reduction in was made possible by having employees take on extra work when possible. In return for their efforts, employees are receiving a 7.5 percent raise in the new budget.

“I really credit the department heads and all of the county employees for stepping it up in recent years,” said Commissioner Mark Peck.

While Peck said residents wouldn’t notice a significant difference in government services because of this year’s cuts, he hopes they don’t have to reduce the budget again next year.

“We’ve been cutting our toe nails down for the last few years and we’re pretty much down to the toe now,” he said. “We can’t keep making cuts like this forever.”