JONES COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
The Board of Commissioners adopted its new budget and 2022 millage rate with no tax increases for property owners.
The Aug. 30 called meeting was brought to order by Board Chairman Chris Weidner, and Jones County CFO LaVita Crutchfield presented the facts and figures to the Board Members. All members were in attendance with the exception of Commissioner Daylon Martin, who joined the meeting by conference call.
Crutchfield stated that the General Fund totaled $23,474,771, and the total budget amount of all funds was $43,327,629.
The Resolution for Budget Adoption unanimously approved by the commissioners included a contingency fund of $1,648,870 of approved projects, including $602,333 for nine full-time firefighters and $439,777 in additional funds for the Jones County Sheriff’s Office.
The budget also included a restricted reserve of $6,696,024, which equals what it takes to operate the county for approximately four months.
The water department fund included $344,500 for designated water projects.
The motion to adopt the 2023 budget was made by Martin.
Commissioners also adopted the 2022 millage rate for the county. The rate calculation presented by County Administrator Jason Rizner included a gross rate of 20.632 with a 3.013 mill rollback for local option sales tax collections.
The unincorporated area rate rolls back an additional 1.447 mills for insurance premium tax. The unincorporated mill rate adopted was 16.172 and 17.619 for the incorporated area, which is the city limits of Gray. River North has a special tax district that adds 1.156 mills to its millage rate.
Commissioner Wendy Vaughn made the motion to adopt the millage rate, and the motion was approved unanimously.
Crutchfield had more to say following the adoption of the budget and millage rate resolutions.
“Jones County has a great budget team from the head to the bottom. It starts with the county administrator, who knows what he is doing,” she stated.
The CFO continued to talk about H.R. Director Shannon Wagner, who she said keeps the staff and board in line and included the administrator’s assistant, Leslie Faulk.
“No one sees what they do. The budget is a stressful time, and we want to take care of constituents’ money,” she added.
Weidner thanked Crutchfield for what she does for the county every day.
Commissioner Sam Kitchens thanked staff members for making the job easier for board members.
“The biggest thing for me is the character and quality of people we have working in our county. It reflects to our constituents. It’s the competency, quality and loyalty,” he said.
Kitchens added a comment to Crutchfield.
“What you said was heartfelt, and it’s what we feel,” he said.
With no further agenda items, the meeting was adjourned to enter into closed session.
The next meeting of the Board of Commissioners is scheduled at 6 p.m., Sept. 6.
