FARMINGTON — The Franklin County budget committee took a preliminary vote Wednesday on a proposed $7 million spending plan for 2021-22, sending it to a public hearing at 6 p.m. June 2 at the county courthouse.

Of the total, $4.7 million is for county government and services, and $2.3 million is for the jail. It is an overall increase of $210,987 compared to the 2020 budget. Of that increase, $52,919 is for the jail and $158,068 is for county government.

Budget Advisory Committee members added $6,000 to the record preservation line in the commissioners budget for archiving records, including commission meeting minutes, which is done every five years. That brought the total amount in that line to $11,500. Commissioners had budgeted $5,500 but the cost had increased much more than it was in 2015 when the last preservation was done, county Clerk Julie Magoon wrote in a note to the budget committee. It brought the entire commissioner budget to $216,654.

It is $77,477 more than the 2020 budget. It includes a new position for human resources and administrative assistant duties, which is proposed at $38,870. There is also $15,000 for wage adjustments because a new pay scale was implemented four years ago and salaries and wages need to be reviewed and adjusted, Magoon previously said.

The panel added $1,800 for a copier lease in the probate budget as requested by Heidi Jordan, register of probate.

However, the panel did not add in $5,000 requested by Susan Black, register of deeds, that would go toward a lease-purchase agreement for a new server to provide data to computers in her office. New information came to light on both items after commissioners approved a proposed a budget to go to the budget committee.

The budget committee has held three meetings, including an organizational meeting and a budget overview by department heads May 12.

After the public hearing, the committee will meet for a final vote on the budget. After that, the budget will go back to the three commissioners. If they choose to make a change, it will take a unanimous vote and the plan would go back to the Budget Advisory Committee for final approval. It would take a vote of six of the nine members to override the commissioners’ changes.

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