In spite of potentially adding a new deputy this year, the sheriff’s office is anticipating being under budget for the 2018 year compared to the 2017 year.

“Most of the line items stayed relatively the same from last month … We added an additional part in the salary cap in anticipation, or hopes, that we could get another deputy this year,” said Sheriff Derek Robbins, during a presentation to the Boyle County Fiscal Court on Tuesday. “We ended up well under budget (this month).”

County Treasurer Mary Conley explained that the additional employee will not “change the other side of the equation, the fiscal court’s budget equation, as far as taking on any additional operating expenses.”

“What it does do, I don’t have a per employee cost to this, the benefits are going to be affected on the county side, with that being said, the salary cap went from a $900,000 amount to a $772,000, which, in essence, equals out the benefits side of things,” she said. “With the last calendar year, they were under the benefit cap that the county sets by $2,000. We stayed under budget there.”

Conley and Robbins said this was able to be done due to “reduced overtime.” 

“We were budgeting even more than 15 hours (of overtime) per deputy per pay period. We have knocked that back to, on average, of seven or six hours — some employees work more overtime than other employees,” Conley said. “The management team has done a really good job cutting costs.”

The Boyle County Fiscal Court approved $772,350 as the money that can be spent on employees within the sheriff’s office, Conley said. It includes salaries, overtime, holidays, vacation, part-time and comp time. It does not include benefits. 

The 2017 actual numbers have not yet been solidified, Conley said, but that the numbers are on target to be under.

In other business

The fiscal court also held second reading and approval on an ordnance granting Meggit Aircraft Braking Systems a wage assessment and certain employees a partial credit against the county’s occupational license fee.

Magistrates learned that meetings will be held seeking public input on how to improve Boyle and Mercer counties’ criminal justice systems. The Boyle County meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m. March 5 at the InterCounty Energy building at 1009 Hustonville Road in Danville. The Mercer County meeting is tentatively scheduled for 5:30 p.m. March 6, location to be determined.

The court also decided to move the May 22 meeting to May 24, due to the Kentucky Primary Election.

Boyle County Judge-Executive Harold McKinney was recognized during Tuesday’s Boyle County Fiscal Court meeting with a Visionary Award for Leadership from the Bluegrass Area Development District by David Duttlinger.

“Judge McKinney has been absolutely instrumental in the direction and healing and reform of the Bluegrass Area Developmental District. I really believe, without him, we wouldn’t be in existence today,” Duttlinger said.

He called McKinney “a righteous man with the wisdom to make the right decisions.”