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The Nowata County Commissioners engaged in a lengthy discussion regarding the fiscal year 2021-22 budget with all elected officials at Tuesday morning’s meeting. The commissioners first approved a three-month general budget extension that mimicked what was approved in June.

The commissioners needed to make up a $227,000 gap in the budget. The biggest hang up between all elected officials was employee salaries. The officials wanted to have equal pay for the first deputies in each office.

Several factors contributed to the budget gap including collections being down nearly $50k from last year and insurance costs increasing. Even after all the discussion, County Clerk Kay Spurgeon says that the CPA and Excise board will still need to approve the budget.

All offices needed give concessions of some sort to make the budget work. The Nowata County budget has been settled in similar ways in recent years.