The Decatur County Council held its second budget meeting on Tuesday, August 18, continuing discussions as the county works toward developing its 2027 budget. The meeting lasted just under seven hours.
During the meeting, council members reviewed individual departments and discussed specific line items within their proposed budgets. The council also discussed Riverboat funding and how those funds would be distributed over the nine agencies that requested funding.
A significant amount of time was spent discussing salaries and deciding appropriate pay levels for county employees. Council members reviewed what individuals should be making and continued discussions surrounding the salary study that was previously conducted for the county.
One of the major obstacles facing the council is determining how to move employees toward the base pay recommended by the salary study while also working within the county’s available revenues and overall budget limitations. Then the discussion was how to compensate those who may already be over their base pay.
The salary discussion remains an important part of the budget process as the council works to balance fair and competitive compensation with the county’s financial responsibilities.
The council is expected to continue reviewing the budget, including departmental requests, individual line items, funding sources and salaries, as it moves closer to creating the 2027 budget. The next meeting will meet on August 31st at 1pm. During this meeting no discussions were made with only discussions occuring.
