Franklin County BOC Sets FY14 Budget Hearing Dates
Franklin County Commissioners will hear from the public on June 3rd regarding their proposed fiscal 2014 Budget.
The FY14 General Fund budget proposes $11.8 million in expenses and $11.7 million in anticipated revenue.
Monday evening, the board of commissioners held their second budget work session where they heard from County Probate Judge Ken Eavenson, County Magistrate Judge Cody Grizzle, and County Clerk of Court Missy Holbrook.
Eavenson is requesting an increase to his budget of almost $25,000 to pay for a certified interpreter and a public defender.
He told the board more and more municipal court cases require the need for both.
“We need to provide for a public defender and an interpreter,” Eavenson said. “We’re seeing an influx of cases where an interpreter is needed. I will only be utilizing a public defender once a month.”
In the preliminary budget, the commissioners have granted EAvenson’s request for the $25,000 increase for fiscal 2014.
Meantime, Magistrate Judge Cody Grizzle is asking for an extra $9,000 to buy two new scanners and associated software so his office can begin moving paper files to computer.
“Criminal Justice Technology offers scanning software we could use to scan our paperwork,” Grizzle said. “This would definitely cut down on our paper and cut down on our need for so much storage space. If we don’t get to this we’re going to eventually run out of storage space if keep piling these files up.”
Grizzle said the cost for the scanning software. The two scanners would be $1,000 plus $3,000 for the contract labor to help scan the files in to the computer.
Commissioner Jeff Jacques said he was reluctant to agree to the extra funding if it does not include updating the12 new county ordinances.
After the public hearing June 3rd, the board is expected to pass the first reading of the FY14 budget.
A second reading and final passage are set for the June 25th work session. The June 3rd public hearing takes place at the Franklin County Justice Center at 5:30p.