Letter from Commissioner Dennis
I wish each of you a very Happy New Year. This past year has been very difficult for many reasons. I am looking forward to a much better 2022.
The County has many challenges ahead of us. Staffing is a huge concern in many of our critical departments. Our Human Resources Division has been working on reclassification and other recruiting tools to bring the salary up to industry standards. This is not a one step process and will take a couple of budget cycles to overcome decisions made in the past that are impacting our workforce.
The cost of everything is increasing at a rapid rate. I know every citizen in the County is experiencing this on a personal level. County government is not immune to the increase cost of every service we provide. There are only two solutions, cut services or raise taxes when every cost savings idea has been implemented. The County will begin the 2023 budget process in February. Many difficult decisions will be made before adoption of the budget next August.
Behavioral Health is another major factor impacting our community. Drug/Alcohol Abuse, Mental Health and Homelessness issues impact many of our departments and divisions. This is not just a County issue and we must all work together to help find solutions.
The Board of County Commissioners made a decision to move the administrative functions of County government out of the Court House and to remodel the facility to handle the courts and District Attorney functions. County administrative functions will move into temporary facilities and a decision must be made soon on a permanent facility to house those government offices. I know this is a very important and expensive decision, but the funding for the temporary for the temporary facilities is coming from ARPA funds and those will expire the end of 2024. Therefore, the Commissioners must make a difficult decision soon.
The entire globe continues to battle COVID-19. County Government has focused and will continue to focus on this health issue. ARPA funding has helped, but it will eventually expire. In addition, many organizations outside the County are looking at ARPA funds to help recover. We must be very careful as we allocate that one-time money to insure we can support those functions of government and the community recover.
I have one opening on my Citizen’s Advisory Board. If you are interested, please go to our website and complete an application. I appreciate those who have chosen to volunteer to serve our community on a number of boards that advise the Commissioners.
I know there are more issues that the County and all our citizens will face in the coming year. I sincerely hope it is a better year than 2021.
As always, it is an honor to serve District 3.