ROCKLAND – Knox County Commissioners on Monday, September 30, reviewed their 2020 budget draft. The budget will now go to the commissioner’s budget committee on October 17.

County Administrator Andrew Hart said the budget in its initial proposal is up a little over seven percent.

“$660,000 over last year and that’s initial,” he said. “The big reason for that is we used $185,000 surplus last year to reduce last year’s budget and we haven’t put anything in this year.”

Hart said that will be reviewed during this year’s budget process.

“We do have some revenues that are down,” he said. “Those we’ll discuss and monitor. Again, that caused an increase in the budget. Some personnel services from new positions, health insurance we budget 10 percent and worker’s comp we budget ten percent, but we don’t have our final numbers on that and those will likely go down.”

Robert Coombs was voted to replace Linwood Lothrop as interim director of the Knox County Regional Communications Center to a term not to exceed six months.

Coombs is a dispatcher for Knox County and has worked in a supervisory capacity in that role.

Lothrop’s retirement is effective on October 4, 2019. He was appointed communications director in 2000.

Also retiring is Knox County Regional Airport manager Jeffery Northgraves. His retirement is in January of 2020.

Northgraves was appointed interim airport manager in June of 2004 and was appointed to the post full time in January of 2005