BOCC approves solid waste fund transfer following clerical error

WALLACE — The Shoshone Board of County Commissioners held a public hearing on Monday that would allow them to make changes to their current budget.

The hearing was scheduled by the BOCC following the discovery of a lack of funding for the Shoshone County Solid Waste Transfer Station.

The commissioners said this lack of funding stemmed from a clerical error in the final draft of the 2018 fiscal year budget for the transfer station, resulting in $273,000 allotted for the transfer station being zeroed out.

To counter this discrepancy, the BOCC approved a transfer of $260,000 from their reserve funds to the transfer station budget.

Fortunately for those who use the transfer station, the department currently has $1,284,841 in reserve funds (prior to Monday morning), which is more than the required amount needed to continue operations.

The original error was caught immediately after the budget had been published in the Shoshone News-Press. Due to legalities, once a budget is published it can be adjusted to lower dollar amounts, but not increased.

“What this process does today is that it cures that error,” BOCC chairman Mike Fitzgerald said. “What this does show us though, is how good a job the county has been doing with this portion of the fund. How responsible we have all been fiscally with our solid waste division.”

The BOCC has been in the process of setting the final budget for the 2019 fiscal year, which will be approved and advertised later this month.