July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Council gets budget in balance (8/14/03)
Cuts fall short of $163,000 goal
They didn’t quite make all the cuts they were hoping for from next year’s budget.
But the cuts made by members of the Jay County Council were good enough to balance the budget
The council, meeting for a second night of budget hearings following a long and involved regular meeting Wednesday (see related story), trimmed about $41,000 from budget requests reviewed, leaving it about $35,000 short of its goal of $163,000 in total cuts.
But Jay County Auditor Freda Corwin told council members late in Wednesday’s meeting that in her budget calculations she had allowed $200,000 for additional appropriations from tax funds over the final six months of this year, meaning the council could, in effect, make the cuts by saying no to such requests through Dec. 31.
The goal of Corwin and the council is to leave the current operating balance (reserves) for the county general fund at $1.2 million and the overall county operating balance at $1.6 million.
Also Wednesday, the council decided to go with its initial recommendation that a 2.44 percent increase be made in the pay scale in the county’s pay plan. A similar increase will be granted to other full-time employees who are not part of the pay plan.
Major cuts made Wednesday included $25,000 from the surveyor’s budget for the purchase of a new work truck along with $4,700 from the salary of the surveyor’s second deputy; $10,000 from the sheriff’s department other equipment line item; and $1,000 from the health department’s other equipment line item.
In all, approximately $41,000 in cuts was made Wednesday, combining with $86,000 in cuts made during the first night of budget hearings on Tuesday. Some of those cuts on Tuesday were in the form of inflated salary requests that exceeded the council’s recommended increase of 2.44 percent.
The most contentious moment of Wednesday’s hearings came during discussion of budgets for township trustees/assessors.
Most of those elected officials, including Pike Township Trustee Robert C. Lyons, had requested increases larger than the 2.44 percent. The council denied that request.
Lyons and seven of eight smaller township trustees had requested their pay be increased to $2,500 from the current level of $2,165 — an increase of 15 percent.
Most of the trustees received a pay increase of approximately 24 percent for 2003.
But Lyons said the dollar increase for his pay at 2.44 percent is less than $60.
“Two point four-four percent of nothing is nothing,” Lyons said.
Councilman Gerald Kirby, who argued that the pay increases should be held at 2.44 percent, said it was nothing personal against Lyons.
“It’s not a slap at the job you do; I think you do a good job,” Kirby said.[[In-content Ad]]
But the cuts made by members of the Jay County Council were good enough to balance the budget
The council, meeting for a second night of budget hearings following a long and involved regular meeting Wednesday (see related story), trimmed about $41,000 from budget requests reviewed, leaving it about $35,000 short of its goal of $163,000 in total cuts.
But Jay County Auditor Freda Corwin told council members late in Wednesday’s meeting that in her budget calculations she had allowed $200,000 for additional appropriations from tax funds over the final six months of this year, meaning the council could, in effect, make the cuts by saying no to such requests through Dec. 31.
The goal of Corwin and the council is to leave the current operating balance (reserves) for the county general fund at $1.2 million and the overall county operating balance at $1.6 million.
Also Wednesday, the council decided to go with its initial recommendation that a 2.44 percent increase be made in the pay scale in the county’s pay plan. A similar increase will be granted to other full-time employees who are not part of the pay plan.
Major cuts made Wednesday included $25,000 from the surveyor’s budget for the purchase of a new work truck along with $4,700 from the salary of the surveyor’s second deputy; $10,000 from the sheriff’s department other equipment line item; and $1,000 from the health department’s other equipment line item.
In all, approximately $41,000 in cuts was made Wednesday, combining with $86,000 in cuts made during the first night of budget hearings on Tuesday. Some of those cuts on Tuesday were in the form of inflated salary requests that exceeded the council’s recommended increase of 2.44 percent.
The most contentious moment of Wednesday’s hearings came during discussion of budgets for township trustees/assessors.
Most of those elected officials, including Pike Township Trustee Robert C. Lyons, had requested increases larger than the 2.44 percent. The council denied that request.
Lyons and seven of eight smaller township trustees had requested their pay be increased to $2,500 from the current level of $2,165 — an increase of 15 percent.
Most of the trustees received a pay increase of approximately 24 percent for 2003.
But Lyons said the dollar increase for his pay at 2.44 percent is less than $60.
“Two point four-four percent of nothing is nothing,” Lyons said.
Councilman Gerald Kirby, who argued that the pay increases should be held at 2.44 percent, said it was nothing personal against Lyons.
“It’s not a slap at the job you do; I think you do a good job,” Kirby said.[[In-content Ad]]
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