Lyon balances budget

YERINGTON - Eliminating more than $1 million in new hires and equipment requests, Lyon County commissioners have put the final touches on spending plans for fiscal year 2000-01.

When approving the tentative budget in April, commissioners set aside a total of $369,485 for new hires and capital acquisitions. Department head requests, however, added up to $356,546 in personnel needs and $1.1 million for new equipment.

Commissioners cut the personnel requests to $198,795. They included a $13,560 salary increase for an existing assistant district attorney position.

The million-plus in equipment requests was reduced to $158,000. Included was miscellaneous office equipment, vehicles, dispatch needs, new dishwashers for each of the three senior centers and equipment needs for the new Animal Control Department.

The seven new hires will be a District Court Clerk, personnel analyst in the Comptroller's Office, two Juvenile Probation Department employees, one building inspector/code enforcement officer, and full-time public health administrative clerks in Fernley and in Yerington. The public health positions had been part time.

In May, the board removed Animal Control from under the Sheriff's Office's jurisdiction and created a new department. No new positions were added to the four person staff, but $30,000 from the new equipment budget and $10,000 in capital improvement funding was allocated for improvements and needed equipment.

A total of $488,000 in capital improvement projects has been recommended. Funding for these "one-time-spending" projects comes from federal payment in lieu of tax money for federally managed lands within county borders. It is estimated the county will receive approximately $650,000 when Congress allocates funding in the fall.

Approximately 75 percent of Lyon County is federally managed.

Included in the $19.5 million general fund budget is a $514,090 contingency fund to cover unexpected needs and requests.

A $1 million emergency resource fund has also been established. State law allows 10 percent of the total budget to be set-aside in this "rainy day fund."

Lyon County's total budget for 2000-01 is $26.8 million.