The Lake County Commission passed the 2019-2020 county budget at a Monday, August 26 meeting.
Three commissioners were not present, but the commission still had a quorum to pass the budget and new property tax rate.
As the commission discussed at their August 19 meeting, a property tax increase was written into the budget to keep two ambulances running in Lake County. Although one of the two ambulances was originally cut from the budget, commissioners agreed measures needed to be taken to keep both ambulances. That need was confirmed during the meeting when commissioners were informed about an emergency call that was recently made by someone who had heart problems, but had to wait because both ambulances were out of the county.
A motion was passed to raise the property tax rate from $2.75 per $100 of assessed property to $2.85.
Commissioners were made aware of a couple of slight changes that had been made to the budget since the August 19 meeting.
One of the minor changes in the budget included four deputies receiving a raise of $833 for the 2019-2020 fiscal year and $833 for what should have come from the 2018 budget.
County Mayor Denny Johnson and commissioners recognized Sheriff Bryan Avery and Lake County Sheriff’s Department staff members for their hard work and all they had done to keep their budget down. They managed to cut nearly $30,000 from their department budget.
“I applaud y’all for what you’re doing,” said Commissioner James Yates. “Thank you for what y’all are doing as a staff.”
