1

Establish the annual operating budget each fiscal year

Every year beginning in November, each Department Head and Elected Official (minus the 5 County Supervisors) presents an update of their department’s budget, complete with projected and actual expenses and revenues. After the summary, they include projections of personnel, equipment, and space needs for the next 3 fiscal years. The final piece of their report is a decision packet, in which they make their requests for funding for the coming fiscal year. 

After hearing from each department and office, the Board decides which requests to fund.

The county levy is determined by the Finance Department, based on Board decisions. They bring this proposed levy to the Board for consideration.

The budget gets finalized in late February following a series of public hearings.

2

Hire, dismiss, and supervise Department Heads

Johnson County has 20+ departments and offices that carry out the business of county government. The work they do is essential to the smooth running of the county and to the provision of various services to the people who live here in Johnson County, so it is imperative that we hire the most qualified individuals to head those departments. We take the hiring of a department head very seriously. Each Department Head is assigned two Supervisors to be their liaisons for a staggered two-year term. We meet with them monthly to gauge progress on annual goals, to discuss budgetary needs and concerns, to help with navigating personnel issues, to encourage good work, and to offer trainings when appropriate.

3

Establish county policies and procedures and create ordinances

As in any workplace, having strong policies and procedures that are well-articulated, easily understood, and promote and facilitate the goals of the organization, is essential. The Board of Supervisors creates policies or approves policies that are brought to us. We are  currently getting all our policies written in a standardized format, then working to create easier accessibility to those policies.

Ordinances are local laws. The Board of Supervisors is the legislative body of the County charged with creating ordinances.