Cass County Engineer Charles Marker says a number of factors impacting his current budget will require him to amend his FY 2015-16 budget, and revise his FY 2016-17 budget. Speaking before the County Board of Supervisors Wednesday, Marker said one of the factors requiring him to make the change, he says, is the amount of funding from the Road Use Tax Fund (or, “Gas Tax”). He said one year ago at this time, he didn’t know what the status of the gas tax would be, so he couldn’t include it in his budget. The tax didn’t get passed until late Spring, 2015. Marker said that money is starting to come in now, and it’s being used by the County for various bridge and road projects.

Marker says it’s not unusual to amend the budget, but it’s usually not done until around April or May, and no later than June 1st. The County he says, will receive slightly less than One-half million dollars from the Road Use Tax Fund, some of which will be used to repair four or five bridges, and some of which will be replaced. He says they will have to amend not only his County budget, but the budget he submits to the Iowa Dept. of Transportation, when it comes time to do so.

Marker says there’s no need right now to publish for an amended budget. He simply wanted to make the Board aware of the need to expend more than what is budgeted. He prefers to wait until the April-May time frame to amend it, which is the same time other County budgets are submitted for amendment.

In other business, the Cass County Supervisors approved the leasing of a portion of the Walnut Street Courthouse Annex to the 4th Judicial District’s Department of Correctional Services. Cass County Auditor Dale Sunderman spelled out the reasons and specifics behind the agreement, prior to its approval.

He said with the 4th Judicial District/DOC has been leasing office space in Atlantic, but that space will no longer be available after Jan. 31st, 2016. The agreement with the County stipulates the Annex office space will be leased for a period of two-years, at $600 per month.