It’s that time of year again, and the DeKalb County Commission’s Budget Committee has been hearing from local department heads concerning next year’s needs and wants. Most agree that this year’s budget will be tight, especially with the need for a new jail looming over the commission.

On Tuesday, April 15, the Budget Committee heard the Smithville-DeKalb County Rescue Squad, 911 Emergency Communications District, DeKalb County Fire Department, and Library Director, each laying out their budget requests for the 2025-26 fiscal year.

E-911 Director Brad Mullinax, who was not present for the meeting, put in a request for an additional $11,500 to support salary increases for three 911 dispatchers. He has also made the same request of the City of Smithville, and he is seeking another $7,000 from the Town of Alexandria.

Both towns contribute to the 911 fund. The City of Smithville funds three dispatchers at $160, 000 and is being asked to up its funding by $11,500, while Alexandria funds half a dispatch position at $28,000 and is asked to increase the amount by $7,000 to $35,000. The county funds three dispatcher positions at $160,000 per year, which would increase to $171,500. The 911 board funds another three and a half dispatcher positions.

The Smithville-DeKalb County Rescue Squad requested an additional $8,500 to purchase one used portable radio. The Rescue Squad is made up of volunteers, a non-profit organization, and not an entity of county government. It receives an annual contribution from the county for its services, which includes searching for drowning victims, cave/rope rescues and searches for missing persons, etc. This year’s request is for a total of $51,321 including the purchase of the radio.

Library Director Kathy Hendrixson has requested a $1 increase in the hourly pay for part time staff which comes to an additional $3,800. The rate will go from $12 to $13 per hour. This, along with the step raises already scheduled for full time staff in the budget, would put the library’s total budget at $248,167 for the year.

DeKalb County Fire Donny Green did not ask for any significant increase to the fire department budget.

Chief Green explained that there were some increases for parts and repairs due to increased costs, and a couple of line items tied to raises, adjusting for part time personnel and related expenses for social security, and unemployment.

Meanwhile the $25,000 budgeted amount for property tax relief has been increased to $34,000 to due to an increase in applicants for the program.

EMS Director Trent Phipps asked for big hourly pay raises for the 20 EMS medical personnel on the staff. Phipps is seeking a $5 per hour increase in pay along with an increase in his own pay from $61,040 in the 2024-25 budget to $90,000 in 2025-26.

If approved, the total budgeted line item in salaries for medical personnel combined would increase from $773,406 in the year 2024-25 to $1,021,996 in the year 2025-26. Part time pay would jump from $140,000 to $200,000, and overtime would go from $203,000 to $287,000.

The EMS budgetary line item for contracted services would increase from $40,000 to $75,000 and the uniform allowance would go from $5,000 to $7,000. The total budget for the ambulance service, if approved as presented, would increase from $1,833,033 in the year 2024-25 to $2,337, 151 in the 2025-26 fiscal year.

Director Trent Phipps told the committee the reasoning for the increases, saying, “Several counties in our area have made significant payroll increases and once again we are finding ourselves behind in the competition for new, young employees. I have a healthy list of part time EMTs and Advanced EMTs, but attracting new paramedics continues to be a problem.”

“At the end of the day when you dial 911 somebody is coming and the quality (skill level) of who is coming depends on how much we can pay them,” said Director Phipps. “Every paramedic that works for us has hours upon hours of college credit and more than most nurses. How can we continue to go up (raise salaries) after every other county goes up? There has to be a stopping place.”

In a previous budget meeting, Sheriff Patrick Ray and Administrator of Elections Dustin Estes made requests for their operations.

Estes said the election office needs a second full-time employee and he cited statistics to back up his request.

“I am requesting to add one deputy to my staff. I operate with a staff of one. Some statistics to back up the need for the extra support, from 2017 to 2025 we have seen a 21% growth in our voter rolls,” explained Estes.

With a second employee, the budgetary line item for salary and wages would increase from $42,889 (budgeted for 2024-25) to $80,935 (2025-26) and that proposed increase would also impact line items for social security, pensions, unemployment, and employer Medicare. With fewer elections in the 2025-26 budget year, Estes said the expense for election commission workers would be reduced by $20,000.

According to Estes, the election commission has more than operated within its budget this year and he is hoping to “give back” to the county up to $30,000 by the end of the budget year.

County Mayor Adcock announced during the meeting that the three judicial commissioners are requesting an increase in pay. The 2024-25 budget has a total of $44,700 for their salaries which comes to $14,900 for each of the three of them. He said they want their pay to go to $20,000 each.

Last fall, the county created a new courthouse security guard position. His pay (2025-26) as a full-time employee would be $37,440 or $49,039 with benefits included (social security, retirement, health insurance, unemployment, and Medicare). A part time courthouse security guard position, also created last fall but yet to be filled, is budgeted in the 2025-26 fiscal year.

Also at the meeting, Sheriff Ray said that he is adding two deputy positions and an additional secretary to his operation in 2025-26, but has taken steps to minimize budgetary impact.

“We are adding 2 deputies to the sheriff’s department and the 3% salary increases plus tier jumps. I have made deductions from the sheriff’s budget to try to offset expenses for the extra 2 deputy positions. We have also lost high tier deputies and detectives, so our salaries line item is less this year than last year. With the deductions from Sheriff’s Department budget line items and the pay decreases, I feel the impact of the extra 2 deputies along with the 3% increase in pay with the employee tier jumps will have a minimal impact to the budget,” said Sheriff Ray.

“We have two deputies on a swing shift now. By adding 2 more deputies, this will give us four deputies on a shift. The extra deputy on day and night shift will help with transports for the out of county inmates being housed in another jail, inmates who are transported to the State Penitentiary, doctors’ visits, transporting mental ill patients to mental hospitals, among other transports,” said Sheriff Ray.

“This secretary will be responsible for finding where an inmate is to be housed (may have to call as many as 15 jails) and set up transport for inmate with a deputy,” explained Sheriff Ray. “Once a Jail is found for the inmate to be housed in, the secretary will be responsible for creating a “packet” to go with the inmate.

“The secretary will be responsible for keeping up with outstanding medical bills and working with our healthcare company to get reductions on the bills and sending the bills to the County Mayor’s Office for payment. The secretary will also be responsible for collecting our inmate housing bills from other counties.”