Joshua Murray used the public-comment period to criticize the county's budget workshop process and urged the court to require two budget proposals be presented to commissioners: one reflecting no new revenue and the other reflecting the rate the court proposes.

"What I'm asking of y'all is to adopt a court order that forces y'all to present to propose 2 budgets. 1, a no new revenue rate. The other, whatever rate you wanna adopt," Murray said. He argued presenting two options would force commissioners to state what cuts they would make rather than "playing politics" with county spending.

Why it matters: Murray framed his remarks around staffing and service priorities, saying that while some commissioners "support the expenditures of the budget" they then vote against funding priorities. He urged the court to make the choices transparent by requiring a no-new-revenue option and a proposed-rate option for voters and the public to compare.

Details from the comment

- Murray said county operational needs such as jail staffing take years to address and expressed concern that the court prioritized election hardware over jail funding in prior budget discussions.

- He urged commissioners to be held accountable and to present competing budget scenarios so consequences of funding choices are clear.

Ending

Murray concluded his three-minute public comment without any formal action or court response recorded on the topic.