Carbon County Commissioners may have outlined their tentative budget during Thursday's meeting, but the action taken must be redone next week before the preliminary spending plan can be approved.

The reason for the delay is due to a formality of advertising the adoption of the preliminary budget ahead of the meeting - an action that the commissioners' office overlooked.Last week, the commissioners voted to advertise the meeting's purpose, but that was as far as it went. The commissioners then voted to adopt the preliminary budget Thursday without realizing the advertisement never made it to area newspapers for publication.They will now meet at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday for the sole purpose of adopting the tentative 2017 spending plan.Carbon County property owners, however, won't have to dip deeper into their wallets to pay next year's real estate tax, based on Thursday's outline of the budget at the meeting.The $59.6 million preliminary 2017 budget proposes keeping the property tax at 10.25 mills, the same as this year.That means the owner of a home assessed at $50,000 would again pay $512.50 in county real estate taxes next year.Commissioners expect to adopt a final spending plan when they meet on Dec. 15.The budget has three components: The operating fund, $42,715, 262 (up from $42,576,007 this year); capital projects, $14,144,274 (up from $509,086 this year); and special funds, $2,797,717 (up from $2,505,072 this year).Together, the funds would total $59,657,253 (up from $45,590,165 this year).The huge capital projects fund increase is from refinancing 2011 bonds, a move that is expected to make about $7.7 million available for building projects and about $7 million to pay off the bonds.The money is expected to be used for expanding space for county and court operations."There is a dire need for space in the courthouse," Nothstein said.The total tax millage breaks down to 10 mills for the general fund and 0.250 for debt. Each mill generates about $1.5 million.County financial consultant Jeff Weiss said county officials scrutinized the proposed budget line item by line item, cutting wherever possible.The county kept a tight rein on the spending plan in light of a 0.03 percent decline in the tax base due to assessment appeals by major entities like Split Rock.The percentage translates to about $20,000 or $30,000 a year, Weiss said.The conservative fiscal approach is necessary."Who knows with the state and federal governments what cut backs we'll have," said Commissioners' Chairman Wayne Nothstein. "They keep cutting us, but we're mandated to provide certain services."We can't control those expenses, but we try to control what we can," he said.The strategy worked well, giving the county enough wiggle room to consider the possibility of granting employees 3 percent wage increases when the salary board meets in January.Further, Weiss said that the increased flow of people through the court system has resulted in more revenue from fees.Nothstein said some longtime employees have retired, and their replacements earn lower salaries.Commissioners also are weighing requests to hire an additional 15 full-time employees, said Commissioner William O'Gurek.Their salaries, along with the $31,000 a year cost of family health benefits, make that an expensive proposition.Now, the county pays its employees a total of about $13 million in salaries and another $5.9 million in benefits, he said."Personnel matters are the most challenging aspect of the budget," he said."It is a stressful time of the year, but we did control spending," Commissioner Thomas J. Gerhard said.