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As the Allendale County Council navigates a financial crunch, it is discussing stricter enforcement of budgeting on county departments.
On Tuesday, January 30, the Council had a special call meeting in which Chanel Lewis, the county’s chief financial officer, presented a budget report detailing the county’s financial situation.
Departmental Budget Issues
Lewis said that one part of the county’s financial issue stems from county departments booking expenses on the county’s operations budget, as opposed to their departmental budget.
“Before, people used to use operations, so they were spending money that was not actually being charged to their [department] budget,” Lewis said. “So now it’s being charged for their budget. … I’m just going to tell you, $1.1 million, almost $1.2 million of the last audit was the department spending money that wasn’t being charged to their budget.”
This issue is creating strain on the county’s budget, but the council will be more strictly enforcing how spending is booked going forward, said Council chair Matthew Connelly.
“It just wasn’t being recorded properly,” Connelly said. “Moving forward, we know the right way, we just gotta stick to that.”
Department needs
Ahead of the meeting, departments of the Allendale County government gave the council lists of what they claim they need, which the council reviewed.
The Allendale County Hospital is requesting $220,000 for upgrades in plumbing and electrical infrastructure, $180,000 for plumbing upgrades in the nursing home, $320,000 for HVAC systems and $230,000 for replacing X-Ray equipment that the hospital claims are 20 years old. In total, the Allendale County Hospital is requesting $950,000.
The Allendale County Sheriff’s Office is requesting ten new patrol vehicles ($556,000), six new radar units ($13,200), new body armor ($9,600), seven new laptops and printers ($9,600), uniforms for deputies ($11,300), four ballistic shields ($3,800) and tasers ($9,600). This totals a requested $620,300.
The Public Works Department is requesting two pickup trucks for road crews ($110,000), two utility bed trucks ($130,000), a housekeeping van ($40,000), a roll off truck ($150,000), two tractors ($150,000), two zero turn mowers ($35,000), three dump trucks ($300,000), two backhoes ($250,000), a motor grader ($300,000), a bobcat loader ($75,000) and two air compressors ($4,000). This totals a requested $1,544,000.
Elaine Sabb, Allendale County Clerk of Court, is requesting pressure washing the outside of the courthouse ($15,000), a new courtroom sound system and cameras ($20,000), repairs to the courthouse roof ($25,000) and an executive desk and chairs for council members ($10,000). This totals a requested $70,000.
The Office of Aging is requesting, a roofing replacement, a storage shed, a “big freezer to store frozen meals,” a stove, hot plates, five warmers, a refrigerator, a popcorn machine, two large microwaves, ten large step stools, picnic benches, a sitting shed, a fence for the building and a vehicle shed.
The Allendale County Parks and Recreation Project is requesting a dog park titled Bark Park ($30,000), restrooms for James L. Pinkney Park ($30,000), a Wi-Fi park ($10,000) and a fitness park course ($25,000), a new play structure at Winthrop Park ($30,000), completion of Martin Park ($20,000) and upgrading fencing at MH Park ($50,000).
The E-911 Center is requesting new consoles, PC’s, software, servers and other items totaling $273,453.09. This is on top of new grants that the E-911 center has received. Lish Sabb, the director of Allendale County’s Emergency Medical Services (EMS)
Across fire departments in Barton, Allendale, Fairfax, Ulmer, Martin and Appleton, six tankers are being requested, each with a cost of $550,000. Two pumpers are also being requested for the St. Mark Substation and Allendale’s Station 1, each of which cost $815,000. Additionally, new wells and pumps are being requested each of which are priced at $50,000, and the chief is requesting $80,000 for a command vehicle. The total requests are $4,930,000.
