Douglas County commissioners hope to iron out the final details of their 2007 budget Monday.

Commissioners worked toward that goal Tuesday night during another series of budget hearings and made a few of their own proposals.

Commissioner Charles Jones called for adding $55,000 to the budget to pay for a strategic road plan and a map of what the county might look like 20 years from now. He also wants a study of parking issues around the courthouse and the Judicial & Law Enforcement Center.

“I just don’t think that we can afford to waste time,” Jones said, noting that the county needed to prepare for the effects of projects such as the Interstate 70 interchange proposed near Tonganoxie.

Jones and fellow Commissioners Bob Johnson and Jere McElhaney hope to hold the county’s share of the mill levy to an increase of no more than a mill to support the 2007 budget.

They are well on their way toward meeting that goal. Going into Tuesday’s meeting, the estimated mill levy was at 30.18, or only 0.082 mills higher than last year’s levy for the 2006 budget, based on possible changes made during the budget hearings. Estimated expenditures for the 2007 budget recommended by County Administrator Craig Weinaug call for more than $54.2 million.

Although no votes were taken, commissioners indicated they favored:

¢ Paying jurors serving in Douglas County District Court $10 for their first day of service and $30 per day after that.

¢ Increasing the pay for attorneys representing the indigent in misdemeanor cases from $50 to $80 per hour, which would be in line with state pay to attorneys representing the indigent in felony cases.

¢ Supporting the Working to Recognize Alternative Possibilities program offered in school districts by Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center. Bert Nash is requesting $225,000 from the county for the program.

¢ Going along with a revised proposal from the Douglas County Fair Board to build a “crow’s nest,” or announcers box, at the outdoor arena at an estimated cost of up to $20,000. An earlier proposal for adding bleachers was dropped.

¢ Supporting Douglas County Visiting Nurses Assn.’s request for $50,000 to lease home health monitoring machines.

¢ Paying at least $63,000 for a legal adviser in the sheriff’s office.

Commissioners did, however, go ahead and formally approve the hiring of a part-time temporary clerk in the court trustee’s office at a salary of $8,041. They decided to allow the hiring to take place this year under the 2006 budget.

Among items still to be decided for 2007 are cost of living adjustments for county employees and how much to put into contingency funds, such as those used for building maintenance.