Kalamazoo County has adopted a budget for 2016. The Board of Commissioners voted 9-2 to approve the $87 million-and-change appropriation for next year.
Board Chair John Taylor says the county is in excellent financial shape and did not have to cut any programs against its will.
“We’ve been able to look at budgets not just one year, but over a five year period of time. With a five-year budget planning process, we keep cuts to a minimum when we do have to make them and this year was not a cut year,” he says.
The budget includes a 2.25 percent pay increase for nonunion salaried employees. Taylor says that’s the most substantial raise those employees have received in several years.
One of the last changes commissioners made allows the county to hire a full-time staff member who will spend half their time in Veterans Services. That’s part of an effort to make that office more effective.
Commissioner Mike Seals says the office, with just two full-time workers, has struggled to meet the needs of the community. He says it’s not just the county’s 15,000 veterans, but their families that contact the agency.
“So now we’re talking anywhere from 15,000 to 40,000 people who maybe using these services. And they don’t have the staff to be able to handle that kind of workload,” he says.
