MANSFIELD — Richland County commissioners are about to ask for more budget detail from departments and agencies under their purview.
The board on Thursday will discuss the roll out of a new budgeting template. It will ask this format be used when the various county entities submit budget requests, starting with the mid-year review in May.
“There are a good number of departments and elected offices who already (submit detailed financial information),” said Commissioner Tony Vero, who is spearheading the effort.
Vero, who took office in January 2017, is an attorney who worked in human resources in the manufacturing industry before running for countywide office.
He said the information commissioners are requesting should not require much additional work from most departments, inside or outside the general fund.
“(This information is) what they should be submitting every time anyway,” Vero said.
Commissioner Marilyn John agreed.
“If I were a department head, I would appreciate having something that I just can fill in numbers,” she said.
The template being produced has four major components — a summary sheet, a line item sheet for revenues, a line item sheet for expenses and a sheet breaking down personnel costs by employee, salaries, hourly rates and anticipated pay increases.
“We didn’t just throw it over the wall,” Vero said. “Here is the template. Obviously, based on the departments and offices, it might be a little different, outside the general fund and inside the general fund.
“At least it gives you a guideline (of the budget detail commissioners expect) or if you just want to use the template, it’s right there for you,” Vero said.
Vero said commissioners are looking for more consistency in budget requests.
“It’s apparent what we are receiving is not consistent from one department to another,” Vero said. “It’s difficult, for example, to compare salaries for comparable jobs from one department to another when we don’t receive the personal service schedules.”
