Lyon County commissioners approved the 2007 budget after a public hearing that lasted 15 minutes Thursday.
Bob Agler of A&M Consultants told commissioners Thursday that, once the budget is approved, the maximum expenditures have been set.
“If commissioners approved the elected official’s budget, then it really become the elected official’s budget,” said Dan Slater, county controller. “The commission loses the authority to control that budget.”
Slater said this applies to all departments, but especially elected officials’ departments.
“You can lower them, but there’s no way in the world we can ask for more expenditures,” Slater said. “Today was an important step. This is what the budget looks like. Departments know where they’re at and what they can spend.”
Slater said the amounts set are ceilings that have been set.
“Just because the money is there, doesn’t mean it has to be spent,” Slater said. He added that the county should still try to conserve as much as possible.
Other changes in the budget include moving employee benefits from the general fund to the individual department’s budgets.
Commissioners also approved the 2007 budgets for the library, the Southeran Lyon County recreational district and all five rural fire districts.
In other action:
F Commissioners approved 3-0 an application by Ralph and Monica Bond for an application for an agriculture special-use, aviation field in the 1200 block of Road 200.
F Commissioners approved 3-0 an application for agriculture special-use mobile home accessory by Dawn Praeger.
F Commissioners sent back a request being made by the Lyon County Planning and Appeals Board. The request was for a change in county sign regulations, which restricts the size of church signs in the county and home business signs. The board voted 3-2 to recommend approval of new sign regulations that require all signs in Lyon County roads to meet state sign guidelines, abolishing certain parts of Lyon County’s sign regulations.