Carbon County has approved another loan for operational costs for its Children and Youth department.

On Thursday, the commissioners approved loan number 5 to the department in the amount of $250,000, bringing the total for all loans over the last few months to approximately $1.5 million.

Commissioners’ Chairman Wayne Nothstein said that the loan is to cover everything, from salaries to operations at this time. The county is reimbursed approximately 80 percent of the budget from the state for the department.

The problem is that county budgets run from Jan. 1 through Dec. 31, while state budgets run July 1 through June 30. This leaves the county guessing at what the state will be providing.

Carbon County’s Children and Youth budget currently stands at $6.3 million and is expected to jump to $9.5 million in 2022.

On Oct. 28, the county and state Department of Human Services reached a settlement agreement for the department. The full settlement details will be released once the agreement is signed by all parties.

As of Thursday, the county said it had not yet received the signed copy of the agreement back from the state.

In other financial matters, the county also approved loan number 2 to the Area Agency on Aging in the amount of $100,000. The loan is also for operational costs.