Hancock County Council and Budget, Efficiency & Revenue Committee: 1/7/26
Date: 1/7/26
Recorder: Terry Bynum
BACKGROUND:
Provide relevant links and/or context for the meeting.
SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT AGENDA ITEMS AND KEY POINTS:
First meeting of new year. Elected Scott Woolridge President and Jim Shelby VP
This is primarily a discussion meeting about finances, taxes, etc. Today they reviewed fund balances (consensus is that most budget lines are in good shape, although there are a few that will need funds transferred in)
Had planned to set minimum funding targets for budget, but Tax Advisor/Lobbyist Greg Guerrettaz was unavailable, and will discuss this at next week’s Council Meeting
Discussed capital fund. Will probably spend over a million dollars for windows in the courthouse (this had been requested last year, but tuck pointing took priority). They are also planning spending 800K for patrol vehicles for the sheriff, and up to 800K for radios.
They also mentioned a 1.2 million dollar request from the Ag. Association (but they didn’t explain what!)
Apparently, all the money from the 2025 General Obligation bond issue has been allocated or spent, so it was mentioned that they will probably want to do a General Obligation bond issue in 2026(but with the passage of SB1, they can’t do a GO bond in 2027).
They talked briefly about the Memorial Bldg–the question was about some reported de-commissioning of county owned buildings. They figured out that the county doesn’t own the memorial building–it was donated to the Veterans Services by GBC bank, and if the Vets are moved out, it goes back to GBC. They do realize that the building needs extensive maintenance–painting, plumbing, etc.
County Prosecutor Brent Eaton discussed the Council funding an efficiency study of the Prosecutor’s office. A LOT of discussion. Issue was not supported by everyone. No decision was made. Eaton is to put together the information required for an RFQ(Request for Quotation), to see if there are any companies or organizations that are qualified to do such a study. Cost was mentioned at 60K.
The IT department now has someone to handle the electronics of the public meeting law. Dusty Wickers has been hired as a Meeting Technologist/Media Specialist. Unbudget salary of approx 60K.
IT Director Bernie Harris, warned the board that hardware purchases in the months to come will probably by 30% higher than in the past, due to higher costs for memory(due to tariff’s and higher costs of precious metals).
The sheriff gave a lengthy report on the Jail Navigator program–the program identifies inmates that are interested in getting help becoming better employees, etc. Bottom line is that even though the program is expensive, it is successful in Hancock County in reducing recidivism.
As mentioned above, the Sheriff also asked permission to order 15 new patrol vehicles for approximately $833K, and he would also like to hire 5 new, full time court security officers.
No decision on these items–the Commission needs to make the decision, and where the money will come from.
