June 25, 2019 at 1:13 a.m.
Deficit spending expected
First draft of budget puts 2020 more than $60,000 in the red
Deficit spending expected
Another year of significant deficit spending is likely on the horizon.
Jay County Solid Waste Management District’s board worked Monday on its proposed 2020 budget, with the approved first draft calling for more than $60,000 in deficit spending.
Board members also discussed filling the open district director position and pushed back the start date for a tipping fee increase at Jay County Landfill.
After making some adjustments to initial figures during Monday’s meeting, the first draft of the solid waste district’s 2020 budget calls for $313,203 in spending. That’s up by $1,322 from 2019, an increase of less than one-half percent.
The board kept planned expenditures mostly stable, with an increase planned for fees for weekend recycling trailers and a reduction of its advertising budget.
However, income, which comes almost entirely from tipping fees at the landfill, is projected at $250,162.
If those numbers were to hold, the district would have deficit spending of more than $63,000 in 2020.
The district’s board faced a similar issue last year when it hacked nearly $65,000 from its initial budget proposal but still ended up with a projection of deficit spending of more than $70,000. (Deficit spending now is expected to be much smaller this year because of an influx of cash — $52,649.83 — from the City of Portland repaying recycling grant funds.) It had deficit spending of more than $95,000 in 2018.
Expenditures have gone up significantly in recent years, most notably in the cost for recycling trailers, climbing from $189,810 in 2013 to $339,549.21 in 2018 before the cuts that were made for this year.
The budget discussion came after board members decided to take a wait-and-see approach on whether to keep its director position as a part-time role or shift it to full-time.
Rather than making a determination on that issue following the resignation of Samantha Rhodehamel last month, board members Randy Geesaman, Chuck Huffman, Mike Rockwell, Gene Ritter, Chad Aker, Bill Gibson and Mike Leonhard decided to let their pool of applicants be their guide in an effort to get the best possible fit for the job. The position will be advertised as soon as possible, with an application deadline of 4 p.m. July 10. Resumes should be sent to Geesaman, who serves as the board’s president, at [email protected] or 321 N. Meridian St, Portland, IN 47371.
The board plans to have a committee — district educator Bettie Jacobs, Geesaman and Aker — conduct interviews July 15 with hopes of hiring a new director July 22.
Board members talked extensively Monday about the position, with Aker advocating for a full-time employee because of the demands of the job. Geesaman and Huffman expressed concern about the finances, estimating the shift to full-time would cost about $20,000 annually in salary and benefits.
It was also suggested that hours at the district office be reduced from the current 24 to accommodate time spent handling other duties such as supervising weekend recycling trailers and representing the district at special events.
The director position has been a part-time role since 2012 when Freda Corwin took over after the resignation of Jill Hall. The district previously had two full-time positions — director and bookkeeper — but combined them following the retirement of Kay Hayes at the end of 2010.
The board also voted to delay a planned increase in tipping fees because it has not yet notified Waste Management, which manages operations at the landfill.
Board members had voted in May to increase the tipping fee 25 cents — to $2 per ton — on July 1 and planned to ask attorney Bill Hinkle to make the required notification. Because the board had not yet worked with Hinkle on that notification, it voted Monday to delay the 14-percent increase by a month.
In other business, the board:
•Heard the district brought in $19,925.62 in tipping fees on 11,386.07 tons dumped at Jay County Landfill in May. The board paid claims totaling $22,563.53, bringing its total balance of savings, checking and investments to $386,639.56.
•Approved a $100 to the Jay County 4-H Council for its contest in which members decorate 55-gallon drums to be used as planters.
Jay County Solid Waste Management District’s board worked Monday on its proposed 2020 budget, with the approved first draft calling for more than $60,000 in deficit spending.
Board members also discussed filling the open district director position and pushed back the start date for a tipping fee increase at Jay County Landfill.
After making some adjustments to initial figures during Monday’s meeting, the first draft of the solid waste district’s 2020 budget calls for $313,203 in spending. That’s up by $1,322 from 2019, an increase of less than one-half percent.
The board kept planned expenditures mostly stable, with an increase planned for fees for weekend recycling trailers and a reduction of its advertising budget.
However, income, which comes almost entirely from tipping fees at the landfill, is projected at $250,162.
If those numbers were to hold, the district would have deficit spending of more than $63,000 in 2020.
The district’s board faced a similar issue last year when it hacked nearly $65,000 from its initial budget proposal but still ended up with a projection of deficit spending of more than $70,000. (Deficit spending now is expected to be much smaller this year because of an influx of cash — $52,649.83 — from the City of Portland repaying recycling grant funds.) It had deficit spending of more than $95,000 in 2018.
Expenditures have gone up significantly in recent years, most notably in the cost for recycling trailers, climbing from $189,810 in 2013 to $339,549.21 in 2018 before the cuts that were made for this year.
The budget discussion came after board members decided to take a wait-and-see approach on whether to keep its director position as a part-time role or shift it to full-time.
Rather than making a determination on that issue following the resignation of Samantha Rhodehamel last month, board members Randy Geesaman, Chuck Huffman, Mike Rockwell, Gene Ritter, Chad Aker, Bill Gibson and Mike Leonhard decided to let their pool of applicants be their guide in an effort to get the best possible fit for the job. The position will be advertised as soon as possible, with an application deadline of 4 p.m. July 10. Resumes should be sent to Geesaman, who serves as the board’s president, at [email protected] or 321 N. Meridian St, Portland, IN 47371.
The board plans to have a committee — district educator Bettie Jacobs, Geesaman and Aker — conduct interviews July 15 with hopes of hiring a new director July 22.
Board members talked extensively Monday about the position, with Aker advocating for a full-time employee because of the demands of the job. Geesaman and Huffman expressed concern about the finances, estimating the shift to full-time would cost about $20,000 annually in salary and benefits.
It was also suggested that hours at the district office be reduced from the current 24 to accommodate time spent handling other duties such as supervising weekend recycling trailers and representing the district at special events.
The director position has been a part-time role since 2012 when Freda Corwin took over after the resignation of Jill Hall. The district previously had two full-time positions — director and bookkeeper — but combined them following the retirement of Kay Hayes at the end of 2010.
The board also voted to delay a planned increase in tipping fees because it has not yet notified Waste Management, which manages operations at the landfill.
Board members had voted in May to increase the tipping fee 25 cents — to $2 per ton — on July 1 and planned to ask attorney Bill Hinkle to make the required notification. Because the board had not yet worked with Hinkle on that notification, it voted Monday to delay the 14-percent increase by a month.
In other business, the board:
•Heard the district brought in $19,925.62 in tipping fees on 11,386.07 tons dumped at Jay County Landfill in May. The board paid claims totaling $22,563.53, bringing its total balance of savings, checking and investments to $386,639.56.
•Approved a $100 to the Jay County 4-H Council for its contest in which members decorate 55-gallon drums to be used as planters.
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