County board hears budget requests

With the new county fiscal year having started July 1, the annual procession of offices, agencies and organizations has begun at the weekly Hamilton County Commission meetings to make budget requests for FY 2025-26. 
On Monday the board heard from the Aurora Airport Authority, the District 5 Probation Office, the District Court Clerk and County Treasurer Jody Griffith. The meeting was chaired this week by Vice President John Thomas in the absence of Chairman Rich Nelson. 
Authority Chairman, Dr. John Wilcox led a delegation of three airport representatives, which also included treasurer Brett Mitchell and airport manager Terry Ott. Wilcox outlined the large infrastructure projects that have taken place at the airport over the past several years, including the new runway installed five years ago at a cost of $3.8 million, the new taxiway completed last year at a cost of $5.5 million (the airport’s share was approximately 10 percent of those projects with the balance coming from the federal government) and replacing the old hangar doors with new and stronger bi-fold doors. The cost of the door project was financed through the sale of bonds and is being paid off at $84,000 per year. 
Wilcox said the next project will be to replace the driveway coming off Highway 14 to the parking area. He said the cost of that project is estimated at $500,000 but the airport does not have the funds to do it this year. 
Ott reported that the airport gave up 9-10 acres of farmland because of the taxiway project, but now has plenty of grass to mow. He said the grass planted last November germinated well this spring and is now quite tall, as it needs to mature and reseed itself before being mowed the first time. 
Mitchell stated that the airport is in good financial shape due to its various forms of income and subsidies and is running on a break-even basis which he noted is appropriate for a government agency. This year’s budget request from the county is for $24,000. 
Represented by Carrie Rodriguez and Jeff Banholzer the probation office, which serves 11 counties including Hamilton, presented its budget request of $16,835 for next year to the board. Banholzer said that was down slightly from the previous year’s ask. 
He reported that the probation office saw a 93 percent success rate among adult offenders it worked with last year in Hamilton County, meaning that the recidivism or re-offense rate was only 7 percent, which is significantly less than the statewide average. 
In her presentation, Griffith reported that the Treasurer’s Office budget will go up slightly in 2024-25, however, she stated that one change she will be making soon will save the county about $300 a month. She said currently she is paying about $400 a month to the state for internet connectivity, but said by switching to Hamilton Telecommunications the monthly cost will only be about $100. She also said that by switching to a new service that has recently been introduced, she will save about $1,000 a year in processing and mailing out tax notices which will also speed up the process. 
District Court Clerk Wendy Dethlefs also appeared before the board to present her office’s budget request for the next fiscal year. She said her total budget will rise about 4.4 percent due to the purchase of new computers to replace ones the office has had since 2017 and are now considered outdated by today’s standards. She said the acquisition will be paid for under her capital outlay fund.