The Ada County Commissioners have officially adopted the budget for the upcoming year, but they had to say no to a lot of departments. The commissioners only approved a handful of new positions across Ada County for next year.
Creating the Ada County budget is not Tom Dayley's first time helping create budgets. Dayley is the newest member of the Board of Commissioners, but previously served on the Judiciary and Rules Committee in the Idaho House, saying he was "deeply involved" in a very confined and unique part of the budget process.
"One of the directions we gave the division administrators and the elected officials, which we set the budget for as well, is we wanted zero growth in personnel," said Dayley. "Because we've had some growth in personnel over the last two or three years in county government. And so we gave them that direction unless there was some genuine emergencies that they could justify."
With around 30,000 people new to the area, more employees are needed to serve needs from everything including Parks and Recreation to Planning and Zoning. The Ada County Sheriff's Office is the largest segment of the Commissioners budget, making up 65%, but is only 20% of the county budget, according to Dayley.
Things like Expo Idaho and Parks and Recreation are self-funded because of various costs and fees paid for by people, not taxpayer dollars. This includes when you float down the river and rent a tube or take the shuttle to and from Ann Morrison Park.
When asked about a possible bond for a county jail expansion, Dayley said the main thing is to have all the data together and present it to the public, and if the public decides they want it then that will be the decision.
You can read the full interview with Commissioner Tom Dayley here.
