Carroll County Council members were again faced with putting enough money in the general fund to pay upcoming bills at their Thursday morning meeting. However, from where to draw the money provided significant discussion. In the end, no consensus was reached.

Auditor Beth Myers said she needed approximately $240,000 until June 17 to pay claims and payroll. Her suggestions were to make another inter-fund loan or draw money from the approved tax anticipation warrant loan.

Council member Ron Slavens said the fund balances should not be touched. He said the balances needed to show stability to maintain consistency. Council member Jerry Hendress expressed concern about the concept of borrowing money which would incur interest.

"I'd rather us use the inter-fund loan rather than borrowing," Council member Carl Abbott said.

However council member Steve Ashby advocated the council borrow the money from the bank.

"We have to have (fund balances) right," he explained.

Slavens said it was important to track income correctly.

"The cost of the loan is minimal," he said.

"We have to have faith in the system," Abbott said. "We have to have faith in the people. We've come through the hard times with the cuts we've made."

Although he previously advocated borrowing the needed funds from the secured tax anticipation warrant, Slavens made a motion to approve an inter-fund loan from the cumulative capital improvement fund not to exceed $240,000. Hendress provided the second. The motion passed threeto one. Slavens, Abbott and Ann Brown voted to approve the motion. Ashby voted against the measure. Council president Nancy S. Cripe and Rob Baker were absent.

Ashby said Friday the council did not have a comprehensive list of what money had been borrowed and from what funds. He said correct totals were imperative for council members to study and understand before deciding how to proceed.

"We were provided with handouts just prior to the meeting and this doesn't allow time to review the information," he said. "It just isn't enough time to make an informed decision.

Brown said Friday, although she voted to approve the interfund loan, she was not in favor of the measure in the long run.

"I wanted to get us moving," she said. "I figured one more inner-fund loan was okay - we had to get the bills paid."

Brown said she did not have all of the information she needed to make the best decision, but considered the tax anticipation warrant a safety net. She said the council did not know how much inter-fund loan money had been borrowed because some was repaid.

In a related matter, Myers took exception to comments made by Brown at the May 22 night meeting about providing information to the council concerning the expected property tax and homestead credit loan re-payment from the state. She said it was not standard procedure for the auditor to notify the council of all income received into the general fund upon receipt.

"If I thought you needed to know about it, I would have told you," she said. "I'd like some respect. I thought we were supposed to work together."

Myers said it is her job to distribute money when it is received by using a formula dictated by the tax rates for all taxing entities.

Brown said it was the auditor's job to fully inform the council of income payments to the county. She said it would make it easier to understand how county money flows in and out of the general fund to aid in making spending decisions.

She said the council could not control the income, only spending. Income had to be considered to make the most informed appropriation decisions.

"We can't control the revenue," she said. "We can only control expenses. But we must know about income."

Slavens explained to Myers the council needed an explanation of receipts on a routine basis for them to consider when making spending decisions.

"We've been asking for this for a long time," he said. "We need to know the amount going into settlement."

Myers said she did not have revenue reports prepared for the meeting but would put them into council members' mailboxes upon completion.

"We need to get it straight," Ashby said. "If we don't get it right, we'll be real short."

Veterans' Office

Several veterans attended the meeting to express concern about a rumor circulating that the Veterans' Office was going to be closed by the council.

"We need a veterans' service office in Carroll County," Dick Grantham said.

He suggested a tax increase to maintain the office and staff.

All council members present stated individually that closing the office was not under consideration. Ashby said he was concerned that there seemed to be a rumor that not only was the veterans' office going to be closed, but administrator Bob Morrow was asked to step down.

"Morrow's expertise is not replaceable," he explained. "But it was Bob's choice to retire."

Consensus of the council, as explained to the audience and directly after the meeting in a follow up interview with Abbott and Ashby, was that there was never an intention to close the office. Council members clarified there was no intention to request Morrow to leave his post.

Commissioners' president Loren Hylton was granted permission to fill the position "as-is." It was decided the position would be three days per week with no benefits and would be reviewed when the 2009 budget was developed.

Budget

Myers reported the proposed amended budget fell short of balancing with projected 2008 revenue by approximately $40,000. She said the amount was roughly the amount of insurance costs for one month.

Slavens said the county has received the amount of revenue projected by the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance only one time in the past six years. He said he did not trust the 2008 projected figure.

Brown advocated reducing the budget permanently rather than searching for a one-time expense that would perhaps work for 2008 but not beyond.

"I think we should do it through attrition," Ashby said. "I'm real worried about next year."

Slavens recommended council members be prepared to reduce the county payroll by at least two positions at the next meeting, which is scheduled for June 17 at 8 a.m.

Highway department

Superintendent Ron Francis explained three requested additional appropriations. A comment he made at the end of his presentation initiated a discussion about future planning and a word of caution.

Francis said he predicted the highway department would expend the 2008 fuel appropriation balance in the next two months. He said he planned to request an additional appropriation to supplement the budget line item. He estimated approximately $31,000 per month was currently being spent.

Ashby said Francis was expected to institute cost-saving measures to protect fuel consumption. As an example, he said he verified that two highway department trucks were left idling recently in a restaurant parking lot while the truck drivers ate lunch.

Francis said that was not the standard procedure for truck drivers.

"This fuel thing is going to be more critical than anyone ever imagined," Ashby warned.

Hendress said fuel prices alone would run the department 40 percent short of their total requested appropriation for 2008.

Slavens cautioned Francis more than once he would expect to see documentation of cost-saving measures before being asked for additional appropriations for fuel.

Additional appropriations:

• $11,963 from cum. cap. to underground storage tanks; • $5,000 from Riverboat to Umbaugh and Associates; • $30,462 from cumulative bridge fund to Carrollton Bridge; • $20,000 from cum. bridge to Bridge #81; and • $27,171 from highway to dust control.

Transfers approved:

• Surveyor - $37.93 from computer and software to office supplies.

The next meeting will be June 17 at 8 a.m.