FARMINGTON – A Franklin County budget panel increased hours for the county’s emergency management director, returned funding to the part-time dispatchers’ line and added $7,000 to employee flexible benefits.

They opted not to increase cost of living increases to 3 percent for nonunion employees in the Sheriff’s Department as Chief Deputy Raymond Meldrum requested, and went along with commissioners’ directive to include no more than 2 percent raises.

The Budget Committee was still reviewing $4.8 million in departmental requests at 8:35 p.m. Wednesday.

Commissioners recommended a $4.7 million budget, a 7.59 percent increase from this year’s spending.

That amount is believed to be over a state recommended cap but by how much was unknown since some towns have not submitted budget cap allowances in connection with L.D. 1 to the county.

Budget Committee members voted to increase the amount of hours EMA Director Tim Hardy is paid from 32.5 hours weekly to 37.5 hours weekly. Hardy had been hired at a salary covering 32.5 hours but the workload expanded, he told commissioners and the Budget Committee. He had initially asked to be paid for 40 hours, but commissioners rejected that and left it at 32.5. His pay, if the panel’s recommendation sticks, would increase from $31,827 to $37,460, factoring in a 2 percent raise.

Several Budget Committee members spoke in favor of Hardy’s work and the increased funding he brought into the county and to its towns.

Before the committee’s vote, Hardy asked that long-term nonunion county employees get credit for the work they do when considering a cost of living increase.

The panel also voted to raise the line under employee flexible benefits by $7,000, to $231,716, to allow seven nonunion employees who opted not to join Maine State Retirement plans to have 3 percent of their gross pay put into their flexible benefits to be used toward health insurance benefit programs. Union employees who didn’t go with the state retirement fund already have that option. That brings the total employee benefit line to $1 million.

The committee trimmed the county courthouse budget by $26,000 to make it $112,733 by cutting the amount requested for electrical repairs in the capital outlay from $40,000 to $20,000 and eliminating $6,000 for flooring.

They also eliminated $20,000 from capital outlay toward reserve for a new sheriff’s office and dispatch center because Sheriff Dennis Pike estimates will cost $1 million to $1.25 million for the building and that money not addressing immediate needs.

Panel members put in $20,000 in the public safety account, $5,000 more than commissioners recommended.

Budget Committee members approved $978,557 for the Sheriff’s Department while the commissioners approved $993,557.

The panel also approved communications budget at $389,780, $8,429 more than commissioners. The difference is the committee recommended $30,000 for part-time dispatchers and the commission recommended $21,580.