By Virgina Drye
EAGLE TIMES CORRESPONDENT
Sullivan County Commissioner Ben Nelson presented the formal proposed 2024 fiscal county budget to the County Delegation on June 13 in the Sugar River Technical Center, Claremont.
He presented a 31-slide show that covered the economic factors of the budget, the impact of the Sullivan County Health Care Renovation project, and future plans.
Vice-Chair Representative Skip Rollins (R-Newport) presided over the meeting because Chair Steven Smith (R-Charlestown) was absent. The other 11 State Representatives were present.
The proposed budget calls for expenditures of $39,043,620. At this time, the total proposed budget for Sullivan County is 16 percent higher than last year’s approved budget by the delegation.
No member of the public participated in the open comment section of the meeting. During the delegation comment, Representative Judy Aron (R-Acworth) asked if the budget is accounting for reimbursement from the Department of Health and Human Services (DHSS) New Hampshire State Opioid Abatement Trust Fund.
County Manager Derek Ferland replied that the county is accounting for that reimbursement. However, they have not received it yet from DHHS, although the Governor’s Office and Executive Council have approved the funding.
Representative Aron suggested that the delegation write a letter stressing the need for the DHSS’s reimbursement.
Recommendations on any changes to the budget will be discussed between the Executive Finance Committee and the County Commissioners at 10 a.m., Friday, June 16, at the County Commissioners Conference Room, 14 Main St., Newport.
The Executive Finance Committee (EFC) includes the Chair of the EFC, Representative Judy Aron (R- Acworth), EFC Vice-Chair Representative Terry Spilsbury (R- Charlestown), EFC Clerk Representative Walter Stapleton (R-Claremont), Representative Bill Palmer (D-Cornish), and Representative Brian Sullivan (D-Grantham).
At 2 p.m., Tuesday, June 27, at the Sugar River Valley Regional Technical Center, 111 South St., Claremont, in the John Goodrich Business and Community Room, the County Delegation will vote on the budget required by state code with or without the EFC’s recommendations.
Other business conducted at the meeting included:
* County Sheriff John Simons’s request to the delegation to increase the Sheriff’s Fee Schedule to $2.12 per RSA 104:31-xi. The current rate for services, such as serving a writ, from the Sheriff’s Office is $30.30; this approval would increase the fee to $32.42.
Per the RSA, all counties in New Hampshire are required to make this increase. The increase was approved unanimously by the Delegation.
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