El Paso County Commissioners now deciding on FY 2017 budget

El Paso County Commissioners are now in the process of deciding what will go into the budget for the next fiscal year.

Wednesday, department heads and elected officials made their last appeals to commissioners on what they believe should be in the budget. Most concerns centered on the addition or changes to employees. Commissioners then dove into the complicated process of decision making for the more than $300 million budget.

The original requests for staffing changes from 36 departments was $5.48 million. County human resources staff cut that down to a recommendation of $815,416 after review and appeals.

There are still $1.15 million in changes to other positions asked for that commissioners will have to make on a case-by-case basis. Several of the elected officials involved in the courts and legal filings in the county said the changes are necessary for improvements in efficiency and to handle electronic filing.

“So I think just the whole court system, the whole legal system, is just moving forward,” said Alma Trejo, the administrative judge for the council of judges. “We’re becoming more technological, instead of literally shuffling paper. We’re now doing electronic signatures, e-notices, things like that.”

Commissioners will be making decisions on their budget and others they oversee like University Medical Center through next week.