Schuylkill County Financial Director Paul E. Buber on Wednesday explained budget adjustments for 12 county entities to commissioners.

With the exception of those drawing from the county’s contingency fund, the adjustments involve moving money between line items, not giving them additional funds.

They were $170 for the District Attorney’s office; $270 for Engineering/Real Estate; $2,246 for Children and Youth Services; $4,383 from the contingency fund for district justices’ courts; $7,200 for courts; $4,800 for the Children and Youth Services building complex; $5,366 for Domestic Relations; $5,600 for Adult Probation; $12,322 from contingency for Planning and Zoning; $28,000 for the Tax Claim Bureau, which Buber said is mostly for advertising related to results from the Sept. 26 upset sale plus one or two upcoming private sales, which must be published in a local newspaper; $34,400 from contingency for Public Works in anticipation of supplies needed to keep parking lots and walkways free of snow and ice this winter; and $90,000 from contingency for Fringe Benefits.

Buber said the Fringe Benefits adjustment is twofold: employees have a health reimbursement account. The county budgeted $340,000 for this year, but the actual cost is expected to $400,000, so the budget needed to be increased by $60,000.

Also, Medicare Part B for county retirees had been budgeted at $590,000. The actual cost is now expected to be $620,000, so an additional $30,000 was needed.

Buber also had good financial news for the commissioners.

“When we were putting the budget together last November and December, we weren’t anticipating what was going to happen this year in terms of interest rates.

“The Fed(eral Reserve) didn’t start announcing until January that there would be increases in interest rates,” he said.

“There have been five so far, with another one maybe coming in November.”

The increased rates impact borrowing, but also investing.

Buber said his department has been watching the rates, and “as cash flow allows, we’ve been reinvesting funds to take advantage of the higher interest rates. So we anticipate $600,000 in revenue that will be generated by taking advantage of the higher interest rates.

“On the other side, the investment cost is about $42,925,” he said.

The investment involved 10-12 different funds, Buber said.