It was decided at the last county council meeting the preferred method to control county spending at this point in the process of budget reductions is to reduce personnel expenses through workforce numbers by attrition. However, Carroll County Sheriff Tony Burns will be allowed to replace recently departed personnel. In a four-to-three vote at their Tuesday morning meeting, council members allowed Burns to fill two positions recently vacated. A deputy and a jailer both left the department after the 2008 budget reductions.

Burns explained merit deputies are now used for transporting inmates. Civilian jailers did the work in the past. He said given the length of time the merit officers have served, they tend to get three to four weeks of vacation each, which is a burden for other staff.

"Compensatory time is a never ending cycle," Burns explained. "I'll never get caught up."

"We have to keep the communication channel between the council and the sheriffs department open," he added.

Burns also said he has developed an inmate work program but due to few number of jailers, he is unable to implement it.

"We're just treading water," Burns said. "We're surviving."

Burns said the sheriffs department constitutes the biggest liability in county government. He said it cannot be adequately compared to any other department when making personnel and spending decisions.

The three council finance committee members voted against refilling the positions. Ron Slavens cautioned that the council still must reduce 2008 appropriations. He said it did not make sense to bring a deputy on board only to tell him in the near future the county could no longer afford the position. He said council members should remember the county started the year with a $300,000 deficit from which they have yet to recover. He questioned whether there was revenue enough to support the position.

"Budget does matter," Slavens said. "We can't say that we can make it work."

Steve Ashby concurred with Slavens. He said the 2008 budget had to be reduced by at least another $29,000. He reminded other council members that the county is not allowed by the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance to approve additional appropriations. He said he needed to know what the cost of employing a deputy was before making an informed decision.

"We've borrowed at least $1 million so far this year," Ashby said. "Some of it has to be paid back by the end of the year."

"I want to have a better handle on where we stand with that," he added.

"I don't know how we can do this," Ann Brown said.

"Are we going to be making more cuts today then?" questioned Slavens after the vote to replace the two positions. He suggested the council look at a personnel reduction in the auditor's office as an example for consideration.

Although Brown said she thought the topic should be discussed at the meeting, council members decided to hold a special meeting Thursday at 2 p.m. to explore further 2008 budget reductions.

EDIT

The council will begin the process to increase the Economic Development Income Tax rate from .10 to .25 by advertising the increase for discussion at the next regularly scheduled meeting.

Concerns were raised by council members about how past EDIT funding was used. It was noted spending EDIT money for highway department equipment, although not a waste of money, was not the best use for the funding.

"Tourism is not going to save Car- roll County," Ashby said, stressing the need for an increase in jobs in the county. "Jobs and W-2s do that."

"The way EDIT has been spent in the past has helped to produce the current (county) financial situation," he added.

Speaking on behalf of Carroll County Economic Development Corporation and Chamber of Commerce, Dick Bradshaw said the increase would amount to the cost of one cup of coffee per family each week. He said the Hoosier Heartland Highway will have a "major impact" on the community and urged council members to allow more funding for EDC and the chamber to position the county to be ready to capitalize on the new opportunities presented by the highway.

Property tax collection dates

A request made in writing to council president Nancy S. Cripe from county treasurer Jane Brewington to delay tax collections until fall was met with rejection by all council members. It was reported Brewington requested one tax collection this year to defray clerical costs associated with mailing the tax bills.

Rob Baker said the office holder was elected to get the job done and suggested volunteer labor from other departments could be used for envelope-stuffing.

Auditor Beth Myers said the measure had to be agreed upon by her and she had no prior knowledge of the request. She also explained that it could be difficult to convince other departments to help with clerical duties in the treasurer's office when their own offices continued with a steady workload.

Council members voted unanimously to not support Brewington's request.

Parks department

Two transfer requests by the county parks department were tabled. Both were designed to pay for utilities at Deer Creek Park.

Consensus was to request an explanation from the park board about the need for utilities because the council defunded the line item in the 2008 appropriations.

SBOA memo

A handwritten memo was received from the Indiana State Board of Accounts which said the agency would adjust the overall county fund balance to agree with the bank balance. The bank balance states there is $48,047.34 more in the fund balance than county records indicate. Myers said she signed a receipt to accept the amount into the general fund, which brought the balance in that account to $99,988.

Other business

The health department will fill the vital records clerk vacancy. It was noted the funding for the position is not from county general.

A transfer request by commissioners for $6,500 from social security to unemployment was approved.

Two ordinances to establish donation funds in the sheriffs department were approved.

The next meeting will be June 19 at 2 p.m.