Grand County commissioners held two budget workshops this week, one on Nov. 14 and another before their Nov. 15 regular meeting, during which they discussed details of spending requests and proposals in various departments.
Commissioners considered how to allocate advertising dollars, including what audiences to target and strategies to use; how to distribute grant funding to local businesses and events; how to budget for responsible recreation promotion programs; the future of the film commission; adjusting compensation for specific positions; and whether or not to budget to hire requested positions.
The budget had to be trimmed considerably from earlier drafts. One cut the commission decided not to make was to the cost-of-living-adjustments, or COLAs, for county employees. The county follows an adjustment rate determined by the Social Security Administration based on inflation rates; this year, because of high inflation, the COLA is at 8.7%. Commissioners agreed to abide by that figure for Grand County employees.
In considering a grade adjustment and pay raise for a particular position, Commissioner Mary McGann emphasized the importance of letting the public know what the county is working on—how it’s spending money and addressing community problems.
“I think one of the things that’s really hurting the county is we’re not communicating the good works we’re doing,” she said. “People don’t know what we’ve been doing as far as how we move money to help with advertising… what we’ve done for affordable and assured housing… no one knows about that.”
The proposed budget will be posted on the county website, grandcountyutah.net, by the end of November. A public hearing on the draft will be opened on Dec. 6 and remain open until Dec. 20; the draft can still be revised during this time. Public meetings and workshops on the budget can be viewed on YouTube or through links on the county’s website.
