Ward County commissioners are hoping to downsize spending plans before adopting a preliminary 2022 budget. Initial planning efforts in the past several days resulted in a budget with about a 14% increase.

“We have some major work to do yet,” Commission Chairman John Fjeldahl said. “We have to address this mill levy increase somehow.”

Commissioners met Tuesday to complete unfinished business with the budget draft and expect to hold more discussion at their next meeting Aug. 3.

Once the commission adopts a preliminary budget, it can still reduce proposed spending before adopting a final budget. However, once adopted, a preliminary budget cannot be increased.

The current budget draft includes costs that commissioners still are debating or on which they are seeking more information. One of those costs is employee health insurance, a large ticket item with significant impact on the budget. The commission is considering insurance options that would provide varying levels of savings.

The county also is waiting for results of a salary study. Currently, the budget draft includes 5% pay increases, the addition of three full-time employees and shift of two part-time positions to full-time.

To keep the Ward County Public Library under its 4-mill statutory limit, the commission on Tuesday decided to skip a 2022 contribution to a bookmobile fund. The proposed budget was $20,500 over the amount that 4 mills will collect. The commission eliminated the annual $20,000 deposit into a fund for future purchase of a replacement bookmobile while adjusting cash reserves by $500. The intent is to make up that $20,000 in coming years.

The library is due for a new bookmobile in 2026. It has $85,000 in the replacement account. Librarian Kerrianne Boetcher estimated the cost of a new bookmobile at $250,000 to $300,000 but noted a capital campaign also would be conducted and grants sought.

Commissioners considered transferring $20,000 from a contingency account to the bookmobile fund but were concerned about intermingling regular tax collections with library tax collections because Minot residents, who have a city library, do not pay the county library tax.

The county library finds itself in a budget crunch because of miscalculations in previous years that included failing to separate the bookmobile fund from other cash on hand. Those miscalculations gave taxpayers a break, with levies of 2.5 mills or less in recent years, but put the library in the red.