Boone County Commission wraps up 2014 session

Commissioners have ended 2014 by passing a multi-million dollar budget and looking forward to a new state-of-the-art 911 emergency management center.

Boone County commissioners met Tuesday for the last time in 2014. Commissioners ended the year with the passage of a budget that tops out at almost $80 million. “Wonderful explanation of all of the aspects of the budget on the county website, so people can look at that and see exactly where their money is going,” said Boone Commissioner Janet Thompson.

A portion of that money is going to the sheriff’s department — almost $12 million. Commissioners said a priority during the budget process was to increase salaries for deputies and others in the department. They said the department was far behind its peers in wages.

Looking forward to 2015, commissioners said the 911 emergency management center will be one of their largest projects for the year. Not much has happened on the center’s site. Commissioners said that will soon change — bids have gone out and are now being reviewed. “The 911 emergency management center will be built and that’s a huge step forward in Boone County. We’ll have that underway relatively shortly,” said Thompson.

One county entity that will not be around for the new year is the fair. Boone County doesn’t have enough funding to keep it running after voters said “no” to a tax increase for county parks and recreation. “We’re in the process of closing things down, of securing that asset, so that it can be held for public use at a later date,” said Thompson.