Carbon County is hoping for additional transparency of its 2024 budget ahead of the November general election.

On Thursday, the board of commissioners authorized the county controller to forward budget documents to the departments, with a completion of these documents date no later than Aug. 15.

This changes the current schedule for budget requests and will allow the proposed 2024 budget to be crafted and acted upon by the commissioners by the third week of October.

The board discussed the matter, with the initial motion to table the action until after the January salary board meeting never voted on and reminders that the county is also at the mercy of the federal government, which doesn’t act on its budget until October.

The reason for the date change, Commissioner Chris Lukasevich said, is for the voters to be able to be “armed with this vital piece of information (adjustment to tax/millage rates), that often notably impacts their economic well-being and correspondingly their decision in selecting the leadership of county government.”

Commissioner Rocky Ahner, who said he was in favor of the earlier deadline, raised some concerns that if the salary board approves the new salary wages, there may be some issues with getting the proper information completed by the deadline.

Lukasevich originally planned to make this motion during the commissioners’ first meeting of 2023, but said he felt this was more of a perfect timing.