VIENNA — County Clerk Rhonda Rodgers reminded the county commissioners of the tight budget on May 4 as the commissioners discussed an unforeseen elevator inspection cost.

When the annual budget was created, the goal was that there would be about $9,000 leftover as a carryover, but the county has had some expenses that have lowered that cushion. Rodgers said that $100,000 is the ideal amount.

“This is just where we’re at because we’re broke,” she said.

Previously, the budget had a deficit of over $160,000, but through large budget cuts, they were able to balance it. Rodgers recognizes that unanticipated costs do arise.

“It was tight without any extra expenses,” Rodgers said.

Presiding Commissioner Vic Stratman is concerned about lost sales tax revenue due to highway construction, causing a detour for most of the year. The Missouri Department of Transportation recently finished the Maries River Bridge on Highway 42 and is expected to work on the Fly Creek Bridge to the west until August. Stratman believes Vienna will likely lose a lot of its weekend traffic from St. Louis.

“A lot of the people, if they do come through here, then have to do the detour, they’re probably going to figure out a different route, not come through Vienna again,” he said.

Rodgers mentioned the budget after Stratman shared about the unexpected elevator inspection cost of $590 from Atis.

Missouri law requires elevators to be inspected annually by a licensed company. The previous maintenance company, Schindler Elevator Corporation, bid several thousands of dollars more than the current company, Century Elevators. However, Schindler covered the inspection, but Century did not and outsourced it to Atis.

Stratman then said that he had been receiving emails from CenturyLink for backup internet service, which prompted Rodgers to remind him about the budget.

The county also will have to fund the Maries County Emergency Services Board longer than expected. The 1 percent sales tax collection was delayed from April 1 to May 1 because of a mistake by the Department of Revenue, which means that the first distributions in August and September will be smaller than initially expected.

This forces the county to keep the board running until revenue is sufficient, and Rodgers and Deputy Clerk Renee Kottwitz estimated during the April 2 commission meeting that the extra month would cost $15,000 in payroll.

Furthermore, the county now must pay $1,500 annually for election security software that was previously paid for by the federal government, according to Rodgers and Kottwitz during the April 9 commission meeting.

Stratman also said that replacing air conditioners is another significant expense and that one goes out about once per year. While the county accounts for that, he is unsure if the county budgeted the $8,000 needed for replacement.