NORTH HAVERHILL — The delegation of Grafton County state representatives will vote on the county’s proposed $60.54 million budget at the annual convention on Monday.
The budget, finalized by the delegation’s executive finance committee on June 12, represents an increase of about 5% from the current year.
It will require a 9.3%, or $2.8 million, increase in the amount to be raised by taxes, bringing that figure to $33.3 million.
“The budget was particularly challenging this year because inflation costs are things we can’t control,” County Administrator Julie Libby said by phone. “Everything is going up and because we take care of people on a daily basis those are things we have to continue to buy. With costs continuing to rise, trying to figure out how to do that is always a challenge.”
The largest budget increases were in the nursing home and corrections departments, the commissioners — Wendy Piper, Martha McLeod and Katie Wood Hedberg — said in a letter to the delegation in early May.
The nursing home increases were attributable to more residents, which in turn required more Licensed Nursing Assistants and an increase in contracted nursing positions, the commissioners wrote. The most recent census shows the population of the 135-bed facility at around 120.
“Along with the rise in the census at the nursing home, it brings more need for food and supplies, which are exacerbated by the escalating costs of purchasing these items,” the commissioners said.
The bail reform bill signed into law last year has resulted in an increase in the population at the Grafton County House of Corrections. The reform gives judges greater authority to hold violent and repeat offenders pretrial by requiring only probable cause that a defendant poses a danger, is likely to re-offend, or will fail to appear in court.
The population increase has meant more need for food and supplies and additional medical needs with more hospital visits, the commissioners said. Overtime costs have also gone up and the proposed budget includes funding for two new nursing positions to help with increasing medical needs at the jail.
The jail population is increasingly older with more medical needs and meeting those needs has become much more challenging, Piper said in a phone interview.
“We don’t have sufficient nursing (staff) at night and these two positions are absolutely crucial for the well-being of the inmates, the nurses and the guards,” Piper said.
The commissioners said in their May 1 letter that mental health cases are at an all-time high at the jail and they budgeted for two medical personnel to provide 24-hour mental health care to reduce the risk to inmates and staff.
Another factor driving the budget increase is health insurance, up 9.9%. Employees not covered by a bargaining unit will receive a 3% cost-of-living salary adjustment. Employees with the nursing home and those with the sheriff’s department and dispatch center negotiated collective bargaining agreements with a 3% salary increase.
The county provides about $500,000 in funding for social service agencies, but for the next fiscal year, the commissioners were able to fund many requests using the Opioid Abatement Fund, reducing the social services budget by $55,800. The budget also includes $1.5 million in surplus funds to reduce the tax rate impact.
Not included in the budget is the cost of a new courthouse. There has been no movement on a proposed $47 million county courthouse, plans for which were first presented last summer, Libby said. The public expressed mixed opinions at a public hearing in October.
The annual delegation convention will begin at 10 a.m. Monday in the UNH Extension Conference room at the county office at 3855 Dartmouth College Hwy in North Haverhill.
Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com.
