Council focused on tight budget

With hearings approaching in August, Jay County Council members took one more opportunity to discuss progress toward making crucial cuts to keep the budget tight for 2011.
After an update from the Jay County Development Corporation (see adjoining story), council president Gerald Kirby echoed the sentiment he had to other groups — such as John Jay Center for Learning — who are receiving county funds.
“If we’re going to maintain the services, the dollars have to be there,” Kirby said of both support to outside groups as well as the county’s essential services.
Marilyn Coleman, who sits on the council-appointed committee that has worked with departments to analyze their 2011 budgets, gave an update on the committee’s progress.
“We’ve asked a lot of questions and asked a lot of hard questions,” she said of the committee, which also includes councilman Dan Orr, commissioner Faron Parr and financial consultant Greg Guerrettaz.
Coleman said the committee met with all departments and although not everyone was able to hit the goal of cutting 10 percent out of their budgets compared to 2010, department heads were cooperative, trimming as much as they could as well as coming up with innovative ideas to reduce costs or increase revenues.
Although the committee helped to identify cuts, Coleman stressed that none of the decisions are final.
“What we’re going to do when we get to the bottom, we have no idea,” she said.
Orr added that many non-governmental entities including the John Jay Center, Arts Place, the Museum of the Soldier and others deserve at least as much as they’re asking for but that the county’s tax revenue likely won’t be able to support all of them.
“All these are noble and worthwhile aspects of our lives in Jay County,” he said.
The council also reviewed a suggestion presented by Jay County Auditor Nancy Culy on an adjustment of the LocalOption Income Tax. The council had discussed tinkering with the rate to help with the budget.
The proposal would allow the council to decrease the property tax replacement portion of the LOIT rate while increasing the public safety LOIT rate, which can help fund the jail and other emergency response departments, without making any, or at least a very small, increase to the taxpayer.
If the LOIT rate were to increase, Kirby said taxpayers would only see an increase of .05 percent, meaning taxpayers would fork over an additional 5 cents per $100 earned income.
Commissioner Milo Miller Jr., who attended the meeting, hailed LOIT as a “fair tax” since only those people who are working pay it.
Kirby agreed calling LOIT, “the fairest tax we’ve got going.”
Kirby also told Culy to inform department heads to add a 3 percent salary increase in for all their employees with the understanding that while 3 percent is probably impossible and even a small increase seems unlikely, that they should add it in just in case.
Kirby said he thinks it would be an “insult” to employees to go two years without any raises, but that the council is in a serious tight spot and may not be able to make it happen.
Budget hearings begin in August with a meeting to discuss the county’s pay plan and salary review on Aug. 4 at 6 p.m. in the courthouse auditorium. Departmental budget reviews will be held Aug. 10 and Aug. 11 at 6 p.m. in the commissioners’ room.
Before adjourning the meeting, Kirby stressed again that nothing is final yet but that the council will do its best to form a fair budget.
“Any decision we make will be the best we can do on a dollar-driven basis,” he said.
In other business Wednesday night, the county council:
•Approved an appropriation of $3,000 for the county surveyor to pay for work to GPS cornerstones in the county. The money will come out of the cornerstone perpetuation fund.
•Approved an appropriation of $4,000 for juror fees for the courts.
•Approved an appropriation of $1,776 for victim assistance wages. The money will come from the prosecutor’s deferral fund.
•Approved an appropriation of $42,800 to pay to have a new roof installed on the Jay County Retirement Center. The money will come from infrastructure funds and the retirement center is supplying $10,000 of the cost.
•Approved transfers of $511, $377, $100.24, $589.06, $157, $140, and $93 in the Jay County Community Corrections budgets to cover shortfalls.
Corrections supervisor Gary Hendershot informed the council that the department’s fiscal year recently ended and that community corrections used all but $1 of its state-supplied grant.
•Approved tax abatement compliance reviews for DZ Farms and Wabash Valley Power Association, which were both found to be in compliance of their abatement terms.
•Gave permission to Sheriff Ray Newton and 911 director Bill Baldwin to purchase four 911 stations at a cost of $86,685.84. The 911 system will be purchased with a 50-50 grant and the Jay Building Corporation has agreed to purchase one of the four stations.
The sheriff’s department will purchase the equipment and will later be reimbursed half the cost from the state.
•Gave permission for Jay County Emergency Management Agency director Ralph Frazee to hire a new secretary for his office. His former secretary recently left the position.
The council also told Frazee that he may use money from the secretary salary line item to pay deputy Jim Bruner, who is filling in in the office. Frazee will need to submit a transfer for any money used.
•Signed a resolution combining the county’s Economic Development Income Tax rainy day fund with its general rainy day fund. The move was advised by the State Board of Accounts and the county’s financial adviser as a bookkeeping measure.
Although some members of JCDC’s board objected to the combination, JCDC has agreed to keep a running total of EDIT excess funds that would normally go into the EDIT rainy day.[[In-content Ad]]