NEWPORT — The Sullivan County Commissioners will hold a public hearing Monday of their proposed $41.7 million budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1.

The proposed spending plan represents a 10% increase over this year’s expenditures, with about half of that increase for the first year payment on a second bond for the renovations and additions to the nursing home.

The county delegation of state representatives approved the second bond of $10 million last year, Sullivan County Manager Derek Ferland said. The first year’s payment is $743,000.

“That is the biggest part of the increase,” Ferland said.

Another area of increase is in the Department of Corrections. Last year, the county sought private health insurance for pretrial inmates, which did not work out as planned, Ferland said.

“We took out $120,000 for inmate health care that we had to put back this year,” Ferland said.

The majority of the rest of the increase is spread out over all departments and includes items such as “electricity, wages and insurance,” County Commissioner Ben Nelson said.

If approved as presented by the county delegation, the tax increase would be about $110 on a property assessed at $250,000, Ferland said.

To help curb costs, the budget includes a net reduction of two employees. The proposal includes the elimination of two positions in the cooperative extension services and one in corrections, as well as an additional a position in nursing.

The nursing home expenses increased about $146,000 across most line items, but Ferland said the county was able to hold down the increase by reducing reliance on contracted services from outside agencies, which cost considerably more than nurses hired directly by the county.

The county is anticipating an increase in nursing home revenue of $110,000, bolstered by a higher census, as the renovation project progress and more beds come online, as well as an increased Medicaid reimbursement, Ferland said.

Monday’s public hearing begins at 6 p.m. at the new addition of the nursing home in Unity.

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