Photo by Deb Gau Lyon County Administrator Loren Stomberg went over a preliminary 2019 budget with county commissioners on Tuesday.

MARSHALL — There was just one item on the Lyon County commissioners’ agenda Tuesday morning. But it was a big subject: the 2019 budget and levy. Lyon County Administrator Loren Stomberg presented a proposal with net levy of about $14.89 million, an increase of 2.95 percent from 2018.

Stomberg said one of the biggest impacts on the proposed increase is Southwest Health and Human Services’ portion of the levy, which will see an increase of about $219,000 over 2018. He also told commissioners that the proposal doesn’t reflect some factors that will affect the final budget and levy, like an expected increase in energy production tax revenues.

Commissioners will need to set a preliminary levy by the end of the month. The final levy that gets approved can be lower than the preliminary levy, but not higher.

Commissioners talked about several different topics related to the 2019 budget. One major topic was a carryover from the board’s last meeting, in August. At that time, commissioners voted to join PrimeWest Health, a county-based health care purchasing consortium which currently includes 13 counties around Minnesota. PrimeWest would help provide services for county residents receiving health care through public programs.

It will cost Lyon County an estimated $2 million to join PrimeWest. The money would go toward PrimeWest’s reserve fund, Stomberg said.

The question commissioners had was how Lyon County would come up with the $2 million, and whether it would affect the levy.

The $2 million to join PrimeWest would be due in two payments, with the first payment due in December 2019, said County Board Chairman Paul Graupmann. Commissioners said one possible option would be to use county reserves. County Auditor/Treasurer E.J. Moberg said the county has usually maintained around a nine- or 10-month reserve for the past several years.

Commissioners’ consensus was that reserve funds could be used to make the PrimeWest payments. However, they said they will also have to discuss ways to replenish the county reserves.

On Tuesday, the board also discussed another recurring budget item: county commissioner salaries. The current commissioner salary is set at $18,150, Stomberg said. If the county were to set commissioner salary increases at the same rate as other county employees, that amount could go up to $18,600, he said.

Commissioners had mixed reactions as to whether they should approve a pay increase. But they did direct Stomberg to get more information for discussion, including average salary and per diem figures for neighboring counties.

A third topic that came up during budget discussion was a question about county parks employees. Commissioner Rick Anderson said he wanted to have a conversation with county Environmental Administrator Roger Schroeder about the possibility of hiring a full-time parks manager.

Anderson said he thought a full-time manager might be needed, especially as Schroeder’s workload with the Lyon County landfill increases. It’s anticipated that Redwood County will begin hauling waste to the Lyon County landfill late this year.

Graupmann said he was “hesitant” to put Schroeder on the spot about Anderson’s proposal. Stomberg said since it wasn’t a request coming from county staff, staff would need some time to look into the proposal.