County OKs $65.25M 2019 budget

CELINA - Mercer County commissioners on Tuesday morning passed the county's 2019 budget at $65.26 million for all accounts, an uptick of 3.1 percent from the previous year.

County commissioners Greg Homan, Jerry Laffin and Rick Muhlenkamp this week approved the budget after spending weeks reviewing expenditure requests from county department heads.

Commissioners appropriated $14.373 million for the county's general fund, which pays for day-to-day operations. This reflects an increase of 10.69 percent from the previous year.

The county entered 2019 with an unencumbered carryover balance of $4.8 million.

Muhlenkamp attributed the general fund spike to planned capital projects and a $670,000 advance for community development-related work that will later be reimbursed through a state grant.

Commissioners, depending upon the cost, intend either to replace or seal the aging courthouse roof. They're also looking at replacing the walkway leading to the courthouse's south entrance and installing one of three proposed new air-conditioning units in the Mercer County Central Services Building at an estimated cost of $200,000, Muhlenkamp pointed out.

Last month, commissioners informed department heads they may increase their salary accounts within the general fund by 3 percent in 2019.

It will be up to department heads, though, to determine how much of a raise to give the employees who work for them, Laffin had told the newspaper.

Commissioners came up with the 3 percent figure by considering projected year-end finances, the consumer price index of 2.3 percent, local employment and compensation trends, department funding requests and expected revenue.

Raises will take effect no earlier than Feb. 10.