Representatives from Mind Springs Health presented to the Garfield County Board of Commissioners in the wake of media and community criticism and a state audit Friday morning.
Garfield County government workers may have to give up some of a planned merit pay increase next year, in favor of the county covering 100% of their health insurance costs or vice versa.
A 5% pay hike for Garfield County government employees that’s proposed as part of the 2022 county budget presented this week aims to maintain the county’s workforce amid hiring pressures.
Garfield County expects to receive $226,979 in National Forest Reserve payments for the year 2020 money this year that will go to local public schools and emergency management services.
The annual allocation to Garfield County represents an increase of $2,717 from the prior year, according to a county press release.
Also referred to as the Secure Rural Schools Act, the federal revenue-sharing program is funded by leases and timber receipts from national forests located within the counties.
According to the release, the fund is designed to benefit local public schools and public county roads that run through national forests. The money can also go toward emergency services, such as search and rescue, law enforcement and fire services.
Garfield County’s “rainy day” reserve funds, as Glenwood Springs Mayor Jonathan Godes referred to them this week, might best be described as a chance for isolated cloudbursts here and there.
While it’s true that Garfield County government is sitting on a projected $81.8 million in reserves come the end of 2021, County Manager Kevin Batchelder said it’s important to point out that the vast majority of those funds are committed for very specific purposes.
From $43,408 sitting sitting in a special “livestock auction fund” to $16.5 million in the county’s “oil and gas mitigation fund,” most of that unallocated money is either restricted in its use by law, or committed by resolution of the county commissioners, Batchelder explained.