The York County Budget Committee approved a $20.5 million budget for the upcoming fiscal year following a sparsely attended public hearing earlier this week. TAMMY WELLS/Journal Tribune
ALFRED — The York County Budget Committee on Wednesday approved the county’s operational budget for the upcoming fiscal year after a 40-minute public hearing that centered largely on a new office manager position for the York County Sheriff’s Office.
While there were some concerns raised about the new position by a handful of budget committee members and a presentation from the audience by the union president questioning the need, in the end, the budget panel voted to approve the budget that includes it.
The budget, at slightly under $20.6 million, is up 2.42 percent from the current year. Of the total, an estimated $17.42 million or 84.63 percent, is funded by taxation to York County’s 29 municipalities, with 15.37 percent made up from other revenue sources, according to figures supplied by the county. In all, the budget is up about $487,000 from the current year.
The budget now goes back to York County Ccommissioners for final acceptance — which is likely, since the spending plan approved by the budget panel mirrors exactly the budget initially approved by commissioners.
Two positions will be added to the county payroll — the office manager at the York County Sheriff’s Office starting at mid-year, and a fire coordinator liaison position at York County Emergency Management Agency.
According to county officials, the office manager will have a supervisory role over the existing administrative staff for the three divisions — jail, civil process and rural patrol.
Rachel Sherman, president of Maine State Employees Association Local 1297, said the current Sheriff’s Office administrative assistant already functions in that role. She produced a job description which shows the individual supervises all clerical and receptionist positions for all divisions of the Sheriff’s Office. Sherman also noted a 2001 arbitrator’s decision which lists that position as part of the MSEA union.
“The job being created will not infringe on the job already being done,” said County Manager Greg Zinser. He noted job descriptions for many positions were removed from the union contracts in 2010.
While there was some discussion, there were no motions made regarding the position.
The public hearing drew just a handful of residents.
The vote for the overall budget was unanimous.
— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 780-9016 or twells@journaltribune.com.
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