HARRISVILLE –The Alcona County Board of Commissioners is proposing a $5.2 million budget for the 2020 fiscal year, a 6% increase over the current budget.

The county’s general fund budget is balanced with $455,000 transferred from its tax revolving fund, which is used to pay townships, villages, and cities when they are owed property taxes by their residents. The county collects delinquent taxes to refill that fund.

Board Vice Chairman Adam Brege said it’s “tough times,” not only for Alcona County, but for county budgets state-wide. Brege said that, once again, the county will deal with the same tax income they have had since 2008.

“For the last 10 years, we’re getting charged more to provide services but we’re not getting any more money to pay for it,” he said.

The proposed budget does not include any major purchases or projects, nor does it include any salary increases for its employees. The proposed budget, however, did require the county officials to reduce expenditures.

Chairman Craig Johnston said the county reduced Health Savings Account contributions to $1,800 for families or couples with a HSA plan, a $700 decrease from this year. HSA contributions for single employees would be $900 next year, down $350 from the current year. Brege said the change would impact all employees with an HSA plan.

Commissioners also changed the county’s liability insurance provider from the Alpena-based Lappan Agency to the Livonia-based Michigan Municipal Risk Management Authority. Johnston said the liability insurance covers things such as the county’s vehicles, the patrol cars and county buildings.

Alcona County will also feel the impact from some of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s line-item vetos. Johnston said county officials left secondary road funding in its budget for next year at Sheriff Scott Stephenson’s recommendation, as the sheriff anticipates that funding being restored. Recent negotiations between Whitmer and lawmakers have failed to produce compromise.

But Johnston said the office of Veteran Affairs, which isn’t included in the county’s general fund budget, will be cut “pretty drastically.” He said officials were able to expand office hours to five days-a week this year because of a $55,000 grant from the Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency.

“That was all contingent on receiving monies from the state through their grant process,” he said. “At this time, it hasn’t happened, so we will probably have to go back to one day a week.”

Whitmer vetoed a historic nearly $1 billion in spending from the state’s 2020 budget after the Republican-controlled Legislature sent her a budget she called “a mess,” and much of which she said was unenforceable. The Democratic governor and GOP lawmakers have butted heads over the budget all year over lawmakers’ opposition to her proposal for a 45-cents-per-gallon gas tax increase to fund road repairs.

A budget hearing has been scheduled for 10 a.m. Dec. 18 at the Alcona County building, 106 N. 5th St. in Harrisville.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Crystal Nelson can be reached at 989-358-5687 or cnelson@thealpenanews.com.

In other business

The Alcona County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday:

∫ Scheduled a special meeting for 9 a.m. Dec. 10 to go over a number of budget amendments needed to balance several line items. Budgetary adjustments are needed to keep the line items from going into the red, some of which include the cost of medical examiner autopsies, overtime for a deputy in the sheriff’s office, and funding for secondary road patrol.

∫ Voted 3 to 2 to approve the lease of a new color printer with Miller Office Machines for $150 per month over the course of 60 months, with Vice Chairman Adam Brege and Commissioner Gary Wnuk opposed. The approval came after a motion to buy the printer for $7,000 failed in a 3 to 2 vote, with Chairman Craig Johnston, Commissioner Dan Gauthier, and Brege opposed.

∫ Voted 4-1 to rescind a motion that would have required an employee contribution of 15% each month for both vision and dental for all Priority Health members. Wnuk cast the dissenting vote. The motion was previously approved at a Nov. 19 special board meeting.

∫ Created a new line item to keep track of its Brownfield Authority grant. The county received a $131,000 grant from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy, which allows for an environmental assessment to be completed at the site of the former Harrisville Auto and Sports Center, 216 S. U.S.-23. The assessment will determine whether the property is contaminated.