More than $10 million doled out in final county budget

The Hot Springs County Commissioners had just over $10 million to work with this budget season, but with a little trimming here and there, they managed to cover everything.

While some requests for funding were significantly higher, the commissioners were frugal in their spending knowing next year the monies coming in will be tighter.

They did have to dip into the cash reserve fund to meet their total appropriations - the amount was just $200,000.

Large cuts were made to the requests from the sheriff’s office, jail, museum, emergency management, senior center and EDC.

The sheriff’s office had $27,900 cut from their original budget request, but lost just $3,750 from last year’s budget. They will work with $365,786 for the coming year.

The budget request for the jail was trimmed the most, losing $40,650 from what they had asked for.

However, the final budget for the jail remained the same for the coming year as their 2014-15 budget at $351,060.

The Hot Springs County Museum’s annual budget was dropped to $75,000, down $15,000 from last year’s $90,000.

Emergency Management also took a hit, getting their budget trimmed to $14,400, down from last year’s $28,145.

The EDC and the senior center suffered cuts as well with the EDC receiving $20,000 this year, $5,000 less than last year.

The senior center will receive $70,000 this year compared to last year’s $80,000.

Any of the departments or requesting entities that received increases in their requested funds over last year found the numbers were modest.

The clerk’s office will receive just over $3,200 more in their upcoming budget and the treasurer’s office will see just $2,100 more for the year.

Smaller bumps were seen in the county attorney’s office with $1,140 and the coroner’s office with a $200 addition to their budget.