It’s only in the beginning stages, and all commissioners have agreed that it has to be cut, but Commissioner Dan Belshan still voted against the preliminary budget and tax levy Tuesday.

Commissioners discussed the items for several hours last week and the week before, and all agreed that the levy would be lower in the end, but they didn’t know by how much. The levy is due in to the state by next week. State law says that the levy cannot be increased after the deadline, but it can be decreased.

The board voted Tuesday on setting the levy to its maxium level for now, with the understanding that it will be cut in the coming months.

Belshan said Tuesday he thought it should be lower, and that the department heads should lower their budgets by a certain percentage. He reminded commissioners to &uot;whittle down&uot; the budget.

Both commissioners Dan Springborg and Mark Behrends pointed out that reducing both the levy and the budget had already been discussed and agreed upon by all commissioners in workshops.

&uot;You were more than welcome to bring up those ideas,&uot; Behrends said, referring to the workshops.

Afterwards, Belshan said that he thought the commissioners should show the discipline required by setting the initial levy lower than expected.

(Contact Tim Sturrock at tim.sturrock @albertleatribune.com or 379-3438.)