STANTON — Summer is halfway gone and that means it’s time for another round of Montcalm County budget workshops.
The Montcalm County Board of Commissioners held their first budget meeting for the 2023-2024 fiscal year on Wednesday (commissioners Charlie Mahar and Scott Painter were both absent).
Controller-Administrator Brenda Taeter drafted a proposed budget with 3% pay raises across the board for all county employees. However, many employees are hoping for more than that.
A second budget workshop is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Wednesday, July 19, on the third floor of the Montcalm County Administrative Building in Stanton. Unlike regular county board meetings, the county is not live-streaming its budget workshops on YouTube, but all budget workshops are open to the public.
Here’s a look at which budget requests generated the most discussion on Wednesday (see accompanying info box for a full list of requests):
SHERIFF’S CAPITAL OUTLAY
Sheriff Mike Williams made several capital outlay requests, all of which would be funded by a law enforcement millage, which was approved by voters in 2020.
Williams is requesting a patrol car/SUV with uplift for $66,000, a patrol/marine truck with uplift for $65,000, nine automatic external defibrillators (AEDs) for $17,286, an interview room camera system for $10,000 and a Sea Eagle inflatable rescue boat for $4,648.
Commissioners were pleased that the sheriff gave his blessing to the law enforcement millage to fund these requests, but...
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