NORTH HAVERHILL — The Grafton County delegation of state representatives approved a county budget of $56.2 million for the fiscal year beginning July 1.

The budget, approved Monday in a 15-5 vote at the annual convention of representatives, represents an increase of $2.45 million, or about 5%, from the current year and increases the amount to be raised by taxes to $27.3 million, a bump of $815,000 or just over 3%.

The approved budget has a combination of increases and decreases on several line items, resulting in a decrease of $114,000 from the county commissioners’ proposal. Additionally, there is an overall reduction in non-tax revenue in the final spending plan of about $162,000.

On the revenue side, the Executive Finance Committee of the delegation proposed two major changes from the budget initially recommended by the county commissioners. One is an increase in nursing home revenue of almost $1 million to nearly $19 million, which is $2.4 million more than this year.

Grafton County Manager Julie Libby said the county is confident that the population at the nursing home will be about 116 which is eight more beds than was projected in the commissioners’ budget. The current census is 113 residents at the facility, which has a capacity of 135.

“The nursing home felt comfortable raising that census,” Libby said.

Libby also said the amount being taken from the county’s unassigned fund balance to offset taxes was reduced from the commissioners’ recommendation of $6 million to about $4.7 million.

The reduction is because the county is getting about $2 million less in supplemental Medicaid payment than it was anticipating, Libby said.

“So with that shortfall in revenue we didn’t have enough fund balance we were trying to use in this budget,” Libby said.

Among the expense increases in the budget are a 3% cost-of-living adjustment for non-union employees and higher health insurance costs. The county has increased co-pays and deductibles in the two plans it offers to employees to blunt the effect of a 25% increase in rates effective July 1.

Other increases are the result of new positions that are budgeted to begin halfway through the fiscal year. These include a full-time deputy sheriff, a full-time maintenance assistant, an information technology director and one of four correctional officer positions that were not funded this year.

The county was able to reduce its cost for contracted nursing, which is much more expensive than staff nursing, with additional nursing hires. The contracted nursing cost is down $800,000 to $2.8 million.

Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com.