The Leelanau County Board of Commissioners held a public hearing on Tuesday to discuss and approve the county’s 2025 budget. The newly-adopted $17.5 million general fund plan, which commissioners developed over the course of five budgetary work sessions held in September and October, continues a trend of growing budgets in Leelanau County. The 2024 budget stood at about $16.5 million when the board adopted it last November, while the 2023 general fund budget was adopted at around $15.5 million.

The general fund budget is the key operating budget for county operations. The plan encompasses budgets for the Board of Commissioners, the county clerk, the Leelanau County Sheriff’s Office, municipal emergency service providers, and government departments like parks and recreation, accounting, drain commissioner, planning, and more.

As adopted, next year’s general fund budget clocks in at $17,554,603, compared to 2024’s adopted budget of $16,539,326. As County Finance Director Cathy Hartesvelt explained at Tuesday’s board meeting, though, the approved budget numbers don’t necessarily tell the full story of spending in the county, due to the need for budgetary amendments throughout the year. 2024’s year-to-date amended general fund budget, for instance, stands at $18,792,000, Hartesvelt said.

“If you go back to what you adopted a year ago, for 2024, this is a 6.1 percent increase,” Hartesvelt explained of the 2025 budget. “But we’ve amended, which we do every year. We amend as we go along.”

Hartesvelt added that 2024’s numbers are inflated slightly due to ARPA spending, which she said should be ignored in budget comparisons given the one-time nature of that federal funding program. Sans ARPA spending, 2024’s amended general fund budget is closer to $17.3 million, which would put the 2024-to-2025 increase closer to 1 percent. For reference, the annual inflation rate in the United States from November 2023 to the end of October 2024 was 2.6 percent, according to Labor Department data.

As Hartesvelt told commissioners on Tuesday evening, 2024 has seen a fair amount of unexpected spending at the county level, hence the more than $2 million in budgetary amendments this year. Highlights include the board’s decision to conduct a workplace culture/climate survey earlier this year, the first of two county administrator searches (the second is currently ongoing), a separation agreement with outgoing administrator Deb Allen, a contract to hire interim administrator Richard Lewis, a contract with DCS Technologies to assist county fiber project partner Point Broadband with network installation services, and increased attorney fees “due to litigations we have ongoing and the Grand Traverse County/BATA issue.

Also in the amendment category: Some costly medical expenses for an individual who is currently lodged at the county jail.

“We have had an inmate in our jail who has had health costs that we are responsible to cover, because he belongs to us, and it’s $130,000,” Hartesvelt said.

“Those are just some of the things that happen during a budget year that change what you approve tonight,” Hartesvelt continued. “I just wanted you to understand the overview, that when you do approve a budget, it is so that you’re legal to start paying your bills on January 1; it’s part of the process. And to expect amendments.”

One of the bigger increases in the general fund for 2025 can be found in the budget for the sheriff’s office. The county board has earmarked $2,933,981 for that department next year, up nearly 6 percent from 2024’s amended budget of $2,768,929. Hartesvelt said the 2025 budget plan includes $112,000 for body cameras and a first-year maintenance contract for that technology – something the county is seeking a grant from the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians to cover. It’s one of multiple expenditures included in the 2025 budget that could be removed later, depending on what happens with grant funding.

Another notable increase: the county’s contingency fund total jumping from $500,000 in the 2024 budget to $975,000 in next year’s plan. Much of that money is earmarked for bringing a new cooling tower and air handler to the county government center – a project Hartesvelt said would likely cost around $430,000. Lewis told members of the public that the building’s cooling and airflow systems are nearing the end of their usable life, and that the county would struggle to conduct business in the summertime if those systems were to fail.

Though Leelanau County’s budgets may be growing from year to year, Lewis made the point on Tuesday that the county still has plenty of money in the bank.

“Last year, the audit stated that as of December 31, 2023, you had a 51 percent fund balance,” Lewis told commissioners. “You had a little over $7 million sitting in the bank. And that’s been growing, year by year.” As Lewis explained, the growth of the fund balance shows that the county has “been spending less than your revenue stream” from tax dollars. He concluded that the fund balance “very healthy” and said that many counties would be “very envious” of Leelanau County’s financial position.

Budget documents for 2025, 2024, and 2023 can be reviewed on the Leelanau County website.