The Garden City Telegram
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Tourism bureau to talk budget
Published 11/7/2009 in Local News
By SHAJIA AHMAD
Members of the Finney County Convention and Tourism Bureau will be presenting their 2010 budget for approval during Monday's Finney County Commission meeting.
Budgeted expenses for the bureau -- valued at $424,050 in 2010 -- are higher than last year's expenses, $353,450.
The tourism bureau also plans to form a task force to rebrand, establish a new tag line, logo and more to further increase awareness of where Finney County is located and attract greater tourism. The bureau has budgeted $25,000 as a retainer to begin work with a marketing firm sometime in 2010, according to documents submitted to the commissioners.
Commissioners also will discuss the 2011 budget, which must include discussion of the pros and cons of possible budget cuts and revenue increases, according to Assistant County Administrator Randy Partington in a letter to the board.
Based on conservative estimates from the Finney County Appraiser's office, Partington said oil and gas values that impact the assessed valuation rate may go down as much as 50 percent, causing the 2011 budget to be 6 mills higher than the 2010 budget if expenditures remain the same.
The county will fund several of the following operations mandated by statute or public vote to the tune of $17.3 million 2010: elected official departments, the County Appraiser, Public Works, District Court services, the Noxious Weed Department, the Finney County Health Department, the Juvenile Detention Center, and a building repair and maintenance program. About $6 million will be allotted to other county operations, such as administrative support, ambulance services, Youth Services Division and fairgrounds event support, according to Partington.
County officials also plan to discuss increases in employee health insurance premiums in 2010 due to increases in administrative costs, according to Partington.
Based on the new rates and a three-year average of health claims by county employees, Partington determines that an employee will have a $1.96 increase in premium costs per pay period, up from $25.54. A family would pay $7.82 more, up from $102.16 per pay period. The commission plans to vote on the new premiums at Monday's public meeting.
Finney County Commission
When: 8:30 a.m. Monday
Where: Finney County Administrative Center, 311 N. Ninth St.
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