Redkey considers 2025 budget

All Indiana governmental reporting units have until Nov. 1 each year to file the following year’s budget with the state.

Redkey will be pushing back its budget adoption until a few days prior to that deadline.

Redkey Town Council discussed its 2025 budget Tuesday. It also noted the resignation of town marshal Zach Moser.

Clerk-treasurer Gloria May provided council members — absent council member Dave Dudelston — with copies of next year’s proposed budget, which comes in at $791,822, approximately $283,000 more than the current year’s budget. (Federal American Rescue Plan Act funding accounts $157,836 of that amount. The dollars are being used to gradually purchase new water meters.) May created the budget with help from consulting agency Local Government Services, which has been providing assistance to the clerk’s office since April.

Council hosted a public hearing for the budget Tuesday. (According to the notice to taxpayers on Indiana Gateway, the website used for budgets by Indiana Department of Local Government Finance, Redkey hosted its public hearing Sept. 19. Redkey’s notice for Tuesday’s meeting described it as a special meeting.)

Amid discussion, council president Brenda Beaty noted requirements with Alliance of Indiana Rural Water, a nonprofit membership association affiliated with National Rural Water Association. The group will cover certification costs for training utility workers if they are paid at least $20 an hour, about $2 an hour more than the current rate for employees. That comes out to an approximate $8,320 more annually for the two utility workers.

Currently, $7,500 is factored into the budget for a contract renewal with Jay County Humane Society for animal control services. However, Redkey agreed in September to terminate its contract for the current year. Beaty suggested pulling from that amount to help make up the difference in salaries.

Firefighter Mark Leavell pointed out a significant decrease in his department’s budget. Questions also arose about other aspects of the budget, with May sharing confusion with how the budget has been set up.

Council informally decided it would need to hold off on approving the budget this week — council will hold its regular monthly meeting at 6 p.m. today — and instead coordinate with departments and Local Government Services to sort out changes to the 2025 budget.

May agreed to print individual copies of budgets for each department and coordinate with Local Government Services to answer questions at council’s next budget review meeting now slated for 6 p.m. Oct. 22. Plans are to compare the current year’s budget to the 2025 budget and make adjustments as needed.

Council members tentatively planned Tuesday to vote on formally adopting the budget 6 p.m. Oct. 29.

Also Tuesday, Beaty mentioned that Moser resigned Friday. His last day with the department will be Tuesday. She explained Moser has been using his vacation days and will likely continue to use them through his last day.

Redkey is currently looking for applicants for the position.

According to officials, Moser has accepted a position as an officer with Albany Police Department. Moser has served as Redkey town marshal since December and worked for the department as an officer for seven months prior. He finished his 10-week training at Indiana Law Enforcement Academy in June.

Tensions have been rising the past few months between council members and the police department regarding employee conduct and interpretations of town ordinances. 

In August, council discussed taking disciplinary actions against Moser, who had been accused of using foul language around other Redkey Town Hall employees and smoking in his police vehicle. (He explained his actions for the former offense stemmed from Beaty allegedly violating Indiana Data and Communication System protocol, which she denied.) 

Questions about whether Moser was allowed per town policy to take his police vehicle home after work and drive his children to and from Redkey Elementary School in his police vehicle each day have also surfaced at council meetings in recent months.

Relatedly, in September, Dudelston brought up a “heated” discussion between officer Jon Cave and Beaty outside Redkey Elementary School. Dudelston demanded Beaty apologize to Cave, and when she refused, he left the meeting. A few members of the crowd followed him and criticized council as they walked out of the building.