County council approves budget amendments

 The Pierce County Council moved another step closer to amending the mid-biennial 2022-23 budget during its Nov. 29 regular meeting.

The council voted unanimously to roll nearly a dozen amendments to the budget into a substitution proposal and bring it forward for consideration at Tuesday’s County Council meeting.
Some highlights of the budget: the general fund will increase by more than $5 million. That includes a $3 million transfer to the Workers Compensation Fund, more than $1 million for recruiting and retention of corrections officers, and $457,100 for the Pierce County Sherriff’s fleet rental fund.
Other funds will increase by more than $20.6 million as follows: $5 million for the Behavioral Health & Therapeutic Courts Fund; $6 million for the Self Insurance Fund; $3.46 million for the Real Estate Excise Tax Capital Improvement Fund; $1.16 million for the South Sound 911 Building Lease Fund; $1.58 million for the Fleet Rental Fund; and $1.16 million for the creation of an Opioid Settlement Fund.
The budget reappropriates $5 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funding from Second Hotel Purchase for temporary homeless shelters.