The Lehigh County Board of Commissioners approved an amendment Dec. 13 to the county’s administrative code to require the county executive to provide an electronic copy of the annual budget.

The amendment was sponsored by Commissioners Amanda Holt and Michael Schware and is designed to give the commissioners more time to consider the annual budget between the time they receive it and the time they have to vote.

The commissioners also approved an amendment allowing them to have a say in the choice of health insurance providers.

Commissioners also gave preliminary approval, or a first reading, to several new motions, one of which was to accept a gift from Lehigh Carbon Community College for $3,625 as a donation for homeless veterans. The Veterans Club of LCCC raised the money for the contribution.

Commissioners gave preliminary approval to a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Pennsylvania Social Services Union (SEIU) 668. According to the MOU, members of the union have been working without a pay increase since January 2014. The agreement sets the details of pay and benefits for the employees of the Department of Human Services. Among the benefits are a $1,000 lump sum payment for full-time personnel employed as of Dec. 12; a 6.5-percent retroactive gross pay increase for those employees still employed by Lehigh County. Effective Jan. 1, 2018, union employees will also get a 2.75-percent gross pay increase.