Saline County commissioners today moved forward on the county's proposed 2021 budget.
Commissioners heard a request from Central Kansas Mental Health Center (CKMHC) asking them to reconsider the amount allocated for the organization. Commissioners voted to provide the requested increase of $11,584 to CKMHC, according to information from the county.
Following additional questions, commissioners voted to direct staff to proceed with the publishing of the more than $52 million budget for 2021. They also requested that staff schedule a public hearing and final adoption of the budget for Aug. 11, the county noted.
The 2021 draft budget documents can be found online at https://www.saline.org/Departments/CountyAdministrator#53239-budget-documents.
In other business, according to information from the county:
•Commissioners approved payment of fees and signing necessary paperwork to comply with the Affordable Care Act associated with being a self-insured entity. Under the act, Saline County is responsible for a fee of $946.63 that helps fund the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute based on the average number of people covered under the county's plan.
•Commissioners approved the appointments of Kevin Ellis, Millie Moye, Claudette Humphrey, Susan Montague, and Rex Clearly to two-year terms on the 28th Judicial District Community Corrections Advisory Board.
•Commissioners also appointed Greg Anderes to serve as the treasurer for the Eureka Township following the resignation of a board member. Anderes will serve the remaining term of the resigned board member.
•Jim DuBois, county treasurer, provided commissioners with a quarterly update on interest earned on idle funds. For the second quarter of 2020, $55,124.38 was earned which is significantly less than the amount earned in 2019 ($233,743.95) this same quarter of last year.
•Andrew Pellant, Pre-Trial Program Coordinator, provided a quarterly update on the PreTrial Program. As of June 30, 142 clients were actively being supervised, 19 remained in custody at the Saline County Jail, 206 have had their charges dismissed or had been sentenced, and 109 had had their pre-trial bond revoked. This is a total of 476 placements into the program since it began in April of 2019.
•Michelle Barkley, emergency management director, provided a quarterly update. Emergency management has been heavily involved in the coordination of resources and information associated with the public health emergency. Barkley reported the support of 37 different agencies through obtaining personal protective gear such as masks, gloves, medical/non-medical protective gear, and testing swabs. She also advised the commissioners that the current disaster declaration is set to expire next week. Barkley will be requesting an extension of that declaration next week with the uptick in cases to ensure Saline County remains eligible to continue to receive resources from state and national sources.
•County Administrator Phillip Smith-Hanes provided his update as well. The Coronavirus Relief Fund Advisory Committee held its first meeting on Monday. This meeting was and subsequent meetings will be streamed live on the county’s YouTube channel and the county website has been updated to include a page dedicated to this committee and their activity when it comes to the CARES Act funds that Saline County will be receiving: https://www.saline.org/Coronavirus/CRF-Funding. The next committee meeting is scheduled for 11 a.m. on Monday.
Smith-Hanes also informed the commissioners that the consultant, TUSA, that was hired for the emergency radio communications project has provided their recommendation to the 911 Advisory Committee following the grading of the requests for proposals. Staff is working to set up a joint meeting with the Saline County Commissioners and the Salina city commissioners to present the report and the recommendation.
Additionally, the commissioners met in two executive sessions, one for attorney/client privilege regarding the expo center and one for employee/employer negotiations.