ALLEN COUNTY, OH (WLIO) - Allen County commissioners unveiling their draft budget for 2023 that includes increases in salaries.
Commissioners say that retention and recruitment of employees were at the top of the list and they will be working with department heads on wage increases for non-union general fund employees. Early this year they approved an equitable wage adjustment increase for the sheriff's department's union employees. Commissioners also say that utilities, fuel, and food costs have increased and they had to look at department requests as a want or a need. The draft budget is 36.5 million dollars, up about 1 million dollars from last year with an anticipated increase in revenue submitted by the budget commission.
"We believe that this is the best-estimated number for revenue that you're going to have to spend next year. And then conversation begins and hopefully, they were pretty much on the same page as the budget commission and we move forward from there," said Rachel Gilroy, Allen County Auditor.
"So what we saw this year was an increase in sales tax. So, that was our biggest contributor to being able to, that's our biggest contributor the increase in the sale tax," stated Brian Winegardner, Allen County Commissioner.
Sales tax makes up 65% of the county's revenue. Due to state law, the commissioners can not pass the budget until the new year.
