CLAREMORE — Rogers County is facing budget issues due to a shortfall of approximately $1 million.
During the commissioners meeting on Monday the department heads and elected officials once again spoke regarding the needs of each group.
Citing moving expenses, furniture and other needs for the new courthouse the commissioners explained that there are just more expenses this year.
Commissioner Kirt Thacker questioned the reasons why these items were not included in the original plans for the courthouse, however no response was provided.
Bill Turner, CPA for Rogers County, presented the 2012-13 budget explaining that the $10.3 million in budgeted items would not include raises or carryover for all departments.
Normally, the county uses funds left from the previous year to help funding for the next years budget.
Sometimes each department is allowed to keep those funds, which then can be used to purchase items that would be difficult to purchase in one fiscal year.
This year will be different, as the county needs the carryover just to meet the demands of the current budget year, according to Turner.
Previously, there was also a discussion of raises for county employees, however that is no longer a budget consideration, he said.
The reason the county is experiencing the shortage relates to the courthouse construction, moving expenses, a new phone system and furniture.
Additionally, the old courthouse will need to be demolished and a parking lot will have to be built, according to the commissioners.
But these are not the only constraints on the budget as several new departments have been added in the past 12 months.
The E911 center will take $348,786 of the budget to pay for five new dispatching positions. This does not include the funds that will be provided from the county’s general fund for expenses or the revenue generated from the 911 taxes that is currently collected from landlines or cell phones.
The commissioners are also looking at approximately $200,000 in increases to the sheriff’s budget.
The Rogers County Sheriff’s Department is in need of new cars and equipment that is currently incorporated in the new budget.
The commissioners are making public safety a priority and now they are trying to find the funds to pay for the necessary equipment, according to officials.
The county is taking action to cut all the unnecessary expenses, per the discussion Monday.
The commissioners asked each department for the second time to go back and look for ways to cut items from the budget.
The common expense that is a concern is the furniture for the new courthouse. BKL construction not only is the company building the courthouse they have also provided estimates for furniture for each office.
It was discussed during recent meetings that county officials look at other vendors for the furniture as the BKL estimates appeared to “high”, according to officials.
The commissioners asked the departments to look at other proposals and try to find ways to save money on these expenses.
The commissioners have requested that the information from each department be sent to Turner to allow for the budget to be modified.
The budget is a draft proposal and has yet to be finalized for the current fiscal year which began July 1.
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