Budget process moves along

The budget process continues to move along.

Jay County Commissioners discussed and approved their portion of the 2021 county budget at their Monday meeting.

The full county budget for next year is scheduled to be published Wednesday. Council council will review the budget at a meeting at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 2, with the public hearing and first reading set for 6 p.m. Sept. 16. Budget adoption is scheduled for council’s regular meeting Oct. 14.

In reviewing the commissioners’ budget, commissioner Chuck Huffman asked about the status of workers’ compensation claims, which tend to fluctuate.

Recently, they have been better, county auditor Anna Culy said. She explained she would be transferring those extra funds to liability insurance, which is overdrawn by several thousand dollars because the county ordered new vehicles.

Jay County Development Corporation also hasn’t had a budget increase in about five years, Culy noted when commissioners realized there wasn’t a budget number for the organization. Huffman made a note to speak with executive director Travis Richards about budget needs.

Commissioners also revisited a proposal to hire a maintenance employee for Jay County Jail. Commissioner Chad Aker brought estimates from Matthew Stechly, president of Core Facilities Inc., for helping provide guidance through the process.

Stechly spoke with commissioners in a special meeting Aug. 12 about how to turn maintenance operations at the jail — and other county-run sites — from reactive to proactive.

That would mean using local staff as opposed to contracting with an outside company.

Aker presented three offers from Core, all of which were three-year agreements. One priced at $36,000 includes creating maintenance programs at the courthouse and retirement center, managing inspections for the sheriff’s office, courthouse and retirement center and creating a five-year plan for the facilities. Another, at a cost of $44,000, includes maintenance technical support, conducting a three-year financial audit of the facilities and a review of cost-saving opportunities. A third option would combine the other two along with other services, including on-site support.

Aker suggested commissioners choose at least option two.

Commissioner Mike Leonhard, who wasn’t present for the special meeting with Stechly last week, questioned the proposals.

“That guy wants $36,000 for the first price?” he asked.

The personnel committee (Jay County Council members Jeanne Houchins, Ted Champ and Huffman) discussed the idea at its last meeting, Huffman said, and members asked for more information from Sheriff Dwane Ford about the current maintenance and repair company, Havel. Regardless, the jail will still keep using computer software from Havel.

Huffman brought up the possibility of keeping the budget as-is for 2021 and transferring funds as needed next year if commissioners decide to go with the recommendations from Stechly. County auditor Anna Culy said that was possible, but if the estimates increase more funding will be needed for jail maintenance, “which will blow our budget,” she said.

Commissioners also approved distribution of the remaining economic development funds from Bluff Point Wind Energy Center to Jay County Historical Society and Jay Community Center. Rob Weaver, a representative from the historical society, requested $16,800 for the purchase of property adjacent to Jay County Historical Museum.

Executive director Kyle Cook explained various updates to the community center in regard to efficiency, particularly adding automatic light sensors and LEDs.

Commissioners awarded Weaver the requested amount as well as $39,703 for the community center.

Highway superintendent Donnie Corn noted the highway department began chip-and-seal work on county roads 350 South and 300 South today. He added department workers will start chipping county road 200 West tomorrow. These roads are also being converted from stone to hard surface.

Commissioners also signed a temporary truck restriction for county road 200 West between Mt. Pleasant Road and county road 400 South.

In other business, commissioners:

•Approved the following: A request from Glad Tidings Church at 125 Hoover St., Dunkirk, to build a detention basin nearby; a request from Faron Parr to combine his two lots on 405 W. Main St., Bryant, for the drainage tax fee; a 50% reimbursement grant application for the Jay County Emergency Management Agency, which was presented by director Jessica Ooten. She noted the state has capped the reimbursement this year at $18,000; Payment of two claims — $13,693.75 and $1,430.52 — for the regional sewer district 40-year bond payment and a $1,714 claim for the retirement center biannual Viking Fire Protection visit, which includes testing fire alarms, checking extinguishers and inspecting the kitchen hood system; and a new five-year agreement with Schneider Geospatial, a geographic information system firm which bought out the county’s former service provider, 39 Degrees North.

•Heard from Jay Emergency Medical Service director Gary Barnett, who shared monthly losses from January to July, with the last month totaling $100,777.29 as compared to the second-highest month this year, January, at $73,191.34. Barnett said he tries to look at the numbers in an optimistic sense, categorizing them as costs for a service rather than losses.

•Met Justin Curley, the new agriculture and natural resources educator for the Purdue Extension office.