(Spirit Lake)– The Dickinson County Board of Supervisors today (Tues.) approved the county’s budget for the upcoming fiscal year. The general fund levy rate will be at its maximum level. Supervisor Tim Fairchild says the purchase of a new $6 million 911 radio system is the primary factor behind that, but he says there were some other challenges as well…
“I think everyone here on this board is convinced that we’re not going to keep that levy that way next year. We’re going to drop that down. On the other side everything that we’ve done has had unusually high inflation for the last year, in particular. Our insurance premiums, you know, there was an eight percent increase. ICAP, it’s a group we belong to where they pool their exposure on the comprehensive stuff: buildings, cars, what not, and that premium went up another $90,000 this year. So we’re at $540,000 a year for that premium, which, I don’t know how you control that, either. Building costs are high and that’s what that’s based on.”
On a positive note, the rural fund levy will actually see a decrease in the upcoming budget. It was also noted that the county’s nearly $1 million a year in debt service is now eliminated due to bond payments on the courthouse being paid off.
