WAPELLO, Iowa — Some might consider it nitpicking, but the Louisa County Board of Supervisors and Sheriff Curt Braby call it fiscal responsibility.

At its regular meeting Tuesday, the Board questioned Braby about receipts submitted by the jail — ranging from a worker’s receipt for $25 from McDonalds to $10,000 for liquefied petroleum gas.

Supervisor Paula Buckman said she understands jail employees should be reimbursed for food while taking classes out of town, but she questioned why several bills were dated for snacks during times the employees were not in class. One employee submitted a bill for four Big Mac sandwiches and another for a purchase at a Morning Sun gas station prior to classes.

“Maybe they’re feeding their family before they go,” Buckman said, adding that four Big Macs for one female employee was more than necessary. “It’s a tax-compliance issue and we don’t want to have to track any meals that aren’t for an overnight stay for classes out of town.”

Braby noted that his employees need to eat when they are in out-of-town classes for work, but that he will look into the apparent overspending.

The Board and Braby agreed that gas is a necessity, but the food purchases were possibly an abuse of county dollars.

The Board also questioned Braby about a $49.99 bill for shoes for an employee. Braby stated that it was part of the uniform. Buckman asked him to get prior claims for shoes because she was not aware that shoes were on a list of reimbursable uniform items.

The Board asked Braby to start getting bids for the LP gas. Braby pointed out that he does not order the gas but that he would still see to it.

“Five dollars is five dollars down here, especially when the governor is asking for a 10 percent cut in the general fund,” Braby said.

Gov. Chet Culver has ordered the across-the-board cut of the state’s budget of 10 percent, or about $600 million. Layoffs, program closures and government service shutdowns are likely to follow, Culver has acknowledged. The Board wants to avoid those issues at the county level if possible.

Buckman said the Board knew all year that it would be a tight budget, so the conservative ways are nothing new.

“An initial three percent salary increase was approved for this year but most departments put through zero. Everyone is doing their part to make this happen,” Buckman said.

Buckman and Board member Chris Ball said Louisa County is looking at an especially tight budget because the county lost a lot of tax-generating properties in the 2008 flood, which destroyed or damaged hundreds of homes.

Though most eligible property owners in the county haven’t gotten their Federal Emergency Management funds for lost property buyouts, FEMA will start tearing down 52 qualifying properties within a few weeks. Those properties are being torn down at the expense of FEMA under a program separate from the buyout.

Also, 26 property owners in Elliot Township are being bought out and several in Elliot Township and Oakville are awaiting the finalization of Community Development Block Grant programs.

In other news

 Chief Deputy Adam Caudle of the Louisa County Sheriff’s Office will receive the Sullivan Brothers Award of Valor next month for saving the life of a woman who jumped off a bridge into the Iowa River in March.

The award from the Iowa Department of Public Safety recognizes officers and firefighters who distinguished themselves by the performance of an heroic act.

 The Board expected to hear from Morning Sun property owner Dennis Malone at 8:45 a.m. regarding the right-of-way for his subdivision. Malone was not present at the meeting.

 Braby told that Board that he will be raising the prices for DVDs, in-house record checks and fingerprinting to reflect national averages. Fingerprinting will go from $5 to $20; DVD recordings of arrests will increase from $10 to $25 and record checks will be upped from $5 to $20.