MARIES COUNTY — Maries County officials are changing how they bill the Maries County Emergency Services Board for 911 expenses after reimbursement timing left the county facing a roughly $6,000 deficit in the account used to pay dispatch expenses.

The issue arose Sept. 21 during the Maries County Commission meeting as county officials reviewed payments from the Emergency Services Board, which is preparing to assume responsibility for the county’s 911 operation.

County Treasurer Angie Pasley said the county had received reimbursement for expenses previously paid, but additional September expenses meant the account was still approaching a $6,000 negative balance.

“We have to be in the positive by the end of each month on all of our funds,” Pasley said. “So it’s going to show negative until the next reimbursement check we get from you, which would be the following month.”

County officials stressed that the problem is primarily one of timing. The county continues to pay 911 payroll and operating expenses while the Emergency Services Board reimburses those costs after they are incurred.

As the county’s existing cash in the account was used, the delay between paying expenses and receiving reimbursement began to create a problem.

“This is the first month that it’s caught up to where this isn’t enough money to cover it,” Pasley said. “The cash on hand kind of took hold for a month or two.”

County Clerk Rhonda Rodgers said the balance previously in the account had helped cover the lag between expenses and reimbursements.

The commission discussed several possible solutions, including billing the Emergency Services Board twice a month or having the board provide a financial cushion that could be returned once the transition is complete.

Officials said delaying payroll was not an option.

“We can’t hold payroll for sure,” Rodgers said.

After working through the timing of the payments, commissioners and county officials settled on a simpler approach; future reimbursement requests will include expenses for the current month plus the first payroll period of the following month.

Pasley described the problem as similar to a sweep account in which the incoming and outgoing money ultimately balance, but the timing of the transactions does not match.

“It’s basically now we’re at — it should be just like a sweep account except our cutoff dates aren’t aligned,” Pasley said.

Commissioner Rodney Southard summarized the proposed solution as billing for September expenses plus the payroll the county would have to pay before the Emergency Services Board’s next reimbursement was approved.

Pasley agreed the change should solve the immediate cash-flow problem.

“I think we’d be fine with that,” she said.

The county subsequently sent the Emergency Services Board an additional bill of approximately $10,200 covering the first payroll of the month.

The reimbursement issue comes as commissioners are also dealing with a 911 budget that has exceeded the county’s original projections.

Later in Monday’s meeting, Rodgers said the county had budgeted approximately $174,496 in 911 expenditures but had spent approximately $263,254. Officials noted that reimbursements from the Emergency Services Board increase county revenue as expenses are repaid, meaning the expenditure figure does not by itself represent an equivalent loss to the county.

Commissioners said part of the budget discrepancy resulted from their original expectation that the Emergency Services Board would assume responsibility for the 911 operation much earlier.

Officials examined several expense categories, including computer maintenance, where approximately $9,000 had been budgeted but about $19,000 had been spent.

Western District Commissioner Patrick Kleffner suggested the difference could be explained by the county originally budgeting for approximately six months of expenses rather than a full year.

“If we was paying maintenance for half a year and this is the full year, that would make a big difference,” Kleffner said.

Rodgers agreed the extended transition was a significant factor in the budget figures.

“That was the big problem,” Rodgers said. “There was the fact we’re going to have six months longer than what we anticipated.”

“We gotta keep it running,” Southard said.

The county will continue paying the 911 operation’s expenses during the transition and seeking reimbursement from the Emergency Services Board while officials work toward transferring responsibility for the system.