Budget Hearing Meeting – CSU Extension, September 29, 2026

This was the CSU Extension budget hearing on September 29, 2026. Finance director Vernon Roth walked a six-year sheet with CSU Extension staff in the room. Names used were Burnham, Ashton, and Emily. Katlyn Wommack handles the county vehicle calendar. Mon’nique was the payroll source for overtime. No roll-call votes. No public comment. This is not a countywide software hearing and it is not the $400,000 shortfall hearing. It is the local Extension office plus a few countywide bills that walked through the room and do not belong on this office alone. There are two money piles here. The first is the county’s Extension office. Vernon put that local share near $88,000. The second is countywide bookkeeping: a general-fund balance problem of about $400,000, benefits at 33 cents on the dollar, and workers’ comp of $160,000–$180,000 a year that used to ride a mill and the general fund and is now being pushed onto departments. Those last numbers are not an Extension spending binge. Mixing them is how an $88,000 office starts to look like a six-figure problem. The office itself is trying to finish under again. Staff said they have done that the last two years because local grants offset programming. One grant is already in hand for next year. Others will be chased for programming and youth development. A programming line was left at zero by mistake and should be about $12,000. Last year that line was budgeted at $13,000 and actually spent $8,291. This year they expect $11,000–$12,000. Working direction: drop programming to $6,000 on the county sheet and let grants cover the rest. Youth development sits at $12,000. Two thousand dollars that moved from programming into education and training did not post correctly. Education and training went up because Ashton and new program work need it. Payroll is a separate story, and the captions on director pay drop zeros, so treat those figures as the numbers walked in the room, not as a settled split between CSU and the county. A vacancy had to be refilled at a higher rate, about $4,000 over the current-year salary budget. Director compensation sits on CSU’s fiscal year, July 1 to June 30, so any increase hits mid-year on the county calendar. The room walked a current-year run rate near $170,085 against a budget figure in the $163,000 range, and a next-year working number near $175,000–$179,000. They said the director can still finish under if grants keep landing. Until CSU’s share and the county’s share are printed on one page, that $175,000–$179,000 line should not be read as all general-fund cash. Benefits and insurance are a third story. Insurance waits on open enrollment after the budget is set, so the benefits cell is an estimate. The load used in the room was 33 cents on every salary dollar. Workers’ comp is $160,000–$180,000 countywide and is being allocated by department for the first time. Extension should see its slice, not the whole county bill. The small operating lines moved in both directions. Communication went from about $900 to $3,400 because two cell phones ($960) and IT services now sit here. Phones have to be Samsung. The county tracks texts for compliance. iPhones were a problem. The director wants one system so work and personal phones do not mix. Fuel is under-spent. Mileage reimbursement is the expensive habit. A county vehicle, scheduled through Katlyn, is cheaper. Fuel could come down $500, or stay put because gas is high and operating supplies already dropped to $1,000. Travel and dues sit at $2,000. One thousand could come off except two people have to hit the annual CSU conference next year. Overtime was left off the sheet and has to go back on. Fair prep, the July state conference, and November camps put staff overnight with kids. That time is not volunteered. Pull current-year overtime from Mon’nique and add the line. No motion closed the office total, the director number, the phone bill, or overtime.