Potter County Budget Passed After Cuts

Potter County has approved a new budget after making some changes.

The initial version of the Potter County budget came in at $2.4 million over available resources.  After trimming that amount from the budget, county commissioners approved the new budget yesterday.

Cuts were made to road and bridge, fire, and sheriff's departments.  Most of the cuts were made by deciding to forgo the purchase of new trucks for the department.  Those trucks accounted for $235,000 each and were easy cuts to make in light of the shortfall.

The county is also facing a revenue shortfall that affected available resources and contributed to the budget shortfall.   It is not known at this time why revenue was down but the issue is being investigated.

In the budget a 2% pay raise for employees across the board was approved and managed to avoid being cut.  It is hoped the raise will help offset higher health insurance costs.  Retirees are going to be offered some incentives.