Adams County Board passes $61.5 million budget for 2022

QUINCY — The Adams County Board unanimously passed its fiscal year 2022 budget Tuesday night that absorbs increases in personnel and employee health insurance.

It is a nearly $1.8 million increase over the FY2021 budget.

The $61.5 million spending plan calls for four new corrections employees to accommodate the new jail and an additional $600,000 toward the county’s self-insured health coverage.

The insurance spike is a 31 percent increase. The county pays 90 percent of the cost for its single coverage employees and 75 percent of its family coverage employees.

“For the first time, we see a result that says we could end group insurance, give raises to our employees and they would pay less money out of their pocket if they shopped for insurance on their own,” said Bret Austin, Adams County Finance Committee chairman. “But that would be a risk management nightmare, and providing the insurance does give employees a sense of security.”

The county’s new fiscal year begins on December 1. The property tax levy, which funds a significant portion of the general fund budget, will be voted on at the County Board’s December meeting.

The board will vote on a rate increase of .082 per $100 in assessed valuation, meaning a $2 raise on a house that is valued at $100,000.

Along with the tax levy, Adams County is set to receive $12.7 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding split between this year and next. Those expenditures must be approved by the federal government and have some correlation with economic recovery.

Adams County also increased its information technology budget from $378,578 to $1.17 million because of an increase in personnel and major systems upgrades. Austin said while the ARPA money is good to cover the one-time expense of IT infrastructure, the county must eventually find a way to pay for the new employees on its own after that funding runs out.

Click the link below to see the 2022 Adams County Budget.