Board makes appropriations, transfers

With the year nearing its end, the Jay County Solid Waste Management District Board made some additional appropriations and transfers Monday to help ensure its books will be balanced.

The board also approved new internal controls.

The district added several new programs this year, creating grants for local schools and purchasing recycling containers to be used short-term at community events. Those initiatives and an effort to better advertise its events and services led to the board over-spending what it had budgeted for the year in several areas.

On Monday, board members Jeanne Houchins, Randy Geesaman, Doug Inman, Faron Parr, Tom Johnson, Bill Gibson and Jim Zimmerman approved additional appropriations of $10,080 to cover those costs.

They also approved several transfers in order to balance line items in the budget. The largest of those were $908 to software from miscellaneous services and $907.58 to paper shredding from part-time help.

Other transfers included: $15 to county fair booth from legal services; $273 to postage from tire recycling; $55 to utilities from miscellaneous office repair; $203.39 to gas and oil from office supplies and $115.38 to software from office equipment.

The board also approved new internal controls that include creating an ethics policy and conducting annual employee performance reviews. It also sets out specifics for bookkeeping, payroll, credit card use and a variety of other duties.

In other business, the board:

•Paid $16,140.89 in claims from Oct. 25 to Nov. 28. During that period, the district brought in $19,969 in tipping fees on 14,981 tons dumped at Jay County Landfill. That gave the district a total checking and savings account balance of $481,080.83.

•Agreed to make district educator Bettie Jacobs an hourly employee rather than a contractor for services. Her hourly rate will be based on her previous salary of $17,000 per year.

•Hired accountant Rose Morgan at a rate of $50 per quarter and an additional $75 per year for payroll tax services. Morgan’s quote for the work came in at about half as much as the other quote the board received from Bollenbacher and Associates.

•Heard from district coordinator Samantha Rhodehamel that Tox Away Day for 2017 has been set for Oct. 7 at Jay County High School. Free landfill days are scheduled for April 22 and Sept. 16. At the board’s request, she will also schedule a pair of free shredding days, one to coincide with the first free landfill day and the other to fall on a Friday during the fall.

•Continuing a discussion from October, Rhodehamel noted that 17 checks the district has written to service groups since fall 2015 are yet uncashed. The board asked her to send a letter to the organizations to ask them to cash the checks by Dec. 31 in an effort to simplify bookkeeping.