Jill Schramm/MDN Ward County Commissioner Howard “Bucky” Anderson speaks at Tuesday’s commission meeting as Commissioner Jason Olson listens at left.

The Ward County Commission trimmed employee pay in the county’s proposed 2025 budget Tuesday, ahead of a public budget hearing tonight at 7 p.m. in commission chambers.

The commission stopped short of eliminating funding for the North Dakota State Fair from the budget, but the item is expected to come up again when commissioners continue discussions tonight.

The proposed budget is up 4.59 mills or about $1.7 million from the current budget, prompting commissioners to look at places to cut.

The proposed pay plan increase of 6% was estimated to cost just over $1 million. The commission reduced the increase to 4%, which includes a 2.5% step increase and 1.5% cost of living increase, on a 3-2 vote, with Commissioners Howard “Bucky” Anderson and Shelly Weppler voting against.

Commissioner Jason Olson had indicated an interest in supporting pay raises by eliminating the $300,000 appropriation for the State Fair.

“I just don’t think that we should be using property tax dollars to subsidize the fair when the books the fair provided, it seems like the fair is doing very well. They’re running in the black. They have a substantial reserve,” he said.

Some of the fair’s reserves are used to book the next year’s acts, Commission Chairman John Fjeldahl noted. Reserves also have helped when there have been calamities such as the pandemic and flood, he said. He added it has been important to show support for the fair to avoid the risk of the state fair being relocated elsewhere.

“I’m not going to disagree with Jason in what he’s thinking necessarily, but I’m not wanting to take the funding away from them to support pay increases. Because what do we do next year?. Pay increases come along annually,” he said. “I still think we should support the fair. I don’t know if tax dollars are appropriate anymore for that. Maybe they have to adjust the way they collect their funds.”

Commissioner Jim Rostad also said there needs to be support for the fair, which brings economic activity to the county, but suggested the fair’s finances be reviewed before making any future appropriations.

Olson’s motion to cut the fair’s funding failed 4-1.

A motion to reduce a 17% pay adjustment for the state’s attorney failed 2-3. The adjustment was to bring compensation to a more comparable level with other state’s attorney positions.

“If we had a case study, I think there could be a number of different positions that would need an adjustment,” Olson said. “I don’t want to cherry pick one position.”

Fjeldahl voted with Olson to support reducing the state’s attorney to the level of other raises being given.

The commission voted 5-0 to remove a proposed new hire in the jail to oversee a plan to enhance opioid medication services. The budget listed the position as tax supported, but commissioners chose to remove it for now, replacing it later if anticipated grant funds are received.

Decisions of the commission don’t become the last word until a final budget is adopted. Budgets of political subdivisions must be finalized by Oct. 10.