By Lori EhdeWhen the Rock County Board of Commissioners convened for their last meeting of 2003 Tuesday, much of their year-end wrap-up centered around money.Among other things on their agenda, they reviewed salaries for elected officials and department heads, adopted a county fee schedule and certified the levy.County salariesCommissioners approved a 2004 salary schedule for the following elected officials and department heads:oAdministrator Kyle Oldre’s salary will increase from $65,448 to $66,102 in January. He’ll get another increase in July to $66,763."Looking at our administrator, we have one with a much greater earning potential than we’re paying him," Commissioner Jane Wildung said.Oldre said he enjoys his work with the county. "There are opportunities all over the state and nation," said Oldre, who grew up in Rock County. "But there’s nothing like home and there’s nothing like having a good job at home."oAuditor-Treasurer Gloria Rolfs’ salary will increase from $42,000 to $44,000 in January, with a six-month review in July.oRecorder Jere Ohme’s salary will remain the same at $46,275.oSheriff Mike Winkels’ salary will increase from $58,500 to $60,500, with a six-month review in July.oAttorney Don Klosterbuer will receive the same at $65,000.oHighway Engineer Mark Sehr’s salary will increase from $71,575 to $72,291 in January and to $73,014 in July.oCommissioners will receive the same pay at $12,500.oFamily Services Director Randy Ehlers will receive the same salary, $65,000.County feesIn an effort to make service fees more uniform among county departments, commissioners adopted a fee schedule at their Tuesday meeting.Some departments, for example, charged $5 for a fax, while others charged only a dollar. "We wanted to make sure we were complying with state standards," Oldre said.He said the total amount of fees collected — depending on services used — could bring in about $5,000 more in revenues.He said it’s a relatively small amount, but the idea in adopting the fee schedule had more to do with "cleaning up" the system than it did with making money.The fee schedule covers services ranging from photocopies to marriage licenses.Levy for 2004The board certified the 2004 levy at $3,485,876, the maximum allowed by the state. This is nearly 13,000 less than last year’s levy, $3,498,433.But the net levy (the amount collected in property taxes), to make up for projected cuts in state aids will be roughly $125,000 over last year’s levy."With the shift in state funding, we picked up what the state cut," Oldre said.The board recognized efforts of the Budget Committee, which included Commissioners Bob Jarchow, Ron Boyenga, Auditor-Treasurer Gloria Rolfs and County Administrator Kyle Oldre.Oldre said the committee’s job was made easy due to efforts of department heads."They all recognized early on the dilemma the board was in, and stepped up," Oldre said."What we ended up with is a budget that not only addresses this year’s concern for ‘04, but positions us for addressing ‘05 as well."
