By Paul Sylvain

The county’s current fiscal crisis is proving to be a many-tentacled beast affecting virtually every aspect of the Sunrise County’s budgeting process.

That reality became evident at the Oct. 9 county commissioners meeting when Unorganized Territories Supervisor Heron Weston approached the commissioners about the UT’s budget timeline. The UT operates under its own budget, separate from the main county budget, but on a parallel timeframe. It is administered by UT Supervisor Weston and approved by state lawmakers as part of a statewide UT budget. 

“I’ve outlined the regulatory requirements for accepting the [UT’s] budget,” Weston said. “They [the state] want us to do it right along with the county budget. It mentioned this idea of a public hearing to approve the county budget. I’m not sure when that actually is. Is that going to be a December meeting, or don’t we know.”

County Commissioner Billy Howard, interjected, “Everything is up in the air at the moment, when it comes to the county budget.”

The remark prompted Weston to state, “One thing I don’t have control over is that I need to give the [preliminary] budget to the county's legislative delegation by Nov. 7, which is a Friday before our next meeting [scheduled for Nov. 13]. On that day, I’m going to send it to them and to you guys.”

“Or earlier, if you have it,” replied Howard. 

While a preliminary UT budget must be delivered to local lawmakers, under state statute, the commissioners must hold a public hearing and ultimately submit it to the State Tax Administrator and UT fiscal office in Augusta by Jan. 1, as do other counties with Unorganized Territories. 

Weston concluded the discussion on the matter, alluding to the public hearing requirement, saying, “And then at the November meeting, we can at least discuss it and review it.”