Inside the numbers: Park County budget

If you're a Tribune print reader, odds are you've seen sports writer David Dickey's recurring "Inside the Numbers" feature. I've joked with David about putting one together for more mundane topics, like budgets. Today, that joke becomes reality.

The number of Park County budgets Commissioner Jill Shockley Siggins has helped shape. At a work session last Thursday (the 10th), she said working on the budget is the best part of getting elected. "This is why I run," she said.

Amount requested by Sheriff Scott Steward for a new radio, after dropping his on the floor Tuesday. He was joking, but as commissioners looked to slash $1.2 million from the budget, county employees made sure he was sitting at the front of the room - noting that Steward was the only one wearing a bullet-proof vest. It was not enough to immunize the sheriff's budget - Steward volunteered to give up one new vehicle out of his 2009 budget.

The money Park County will spend on copying supplies (paper, ink, etc.) in 2009. It would probably be inaccurate to call them "duplicate charges."

Money spent on county employee wages in 2008. Commissioners plan to give all non-elected employees a five percent raise in fiscal year 2009.

Spreadsheet cells occupied by the 2009 preliminary budget (roughly). When printed, it will probably occupy around 70 pages. If your personal finances are spread over that many cells, it's a strong indicator that you need a life.

Property taxes the county will pay in 2009 on its Park County Complex (the old Marathon Building). The county has to pay taxes just like anybody else when a property is being used to make money. (The county is leasing offices to private entities -including Marathon - on the building's second floor.) Doing some rough journalist math, about $2,100 will end up back in county funds, while the other $12,200 will end up in school district, city, hospital, fire, and cemetery coffers.

Lunch money cut from the county museum board budget. Generally, the county does not pay for meals, but it had -apparently - been paying for the museum board's. "I want to send a strong message," said Siggins.

Number of times Commissioner Bucky Hall faked hara-kiri with a letter opener during last Thursday's budget work session. Apparently, Hall isn't as big a budget fan as Siggins.