Council tries to stop the bleeding
Temporary fix for a long-term problem
By Debbie Lowe Staff writer

With their collective backs against the wall, county council members decided to "draw a line in the sand" to prevent further deterioration of the general fund at their Thursday morning meeting.

A list of 33 transfers in county general and 13 from the highway department were presented for approval. Imbedded in the county general transfers were three from the commissioners' budget to the Emergency Medical Services' budget for $43,758.83 to cover checks already written for payroll. Those transfers were denied.

"This is a dangerous thing to start doing," Ron Slavens said referring to the practice of a transfer of funds from one county general department to another.

EMS director Mike Durr said due to employees taking all of their vacation, sick and personal days, plus holidays, after hearing about the budget reduction for 2008, it cost the county approximately $45,000. He said if the December bills were not paid, there would still be a $19,000 shortage.

"We have to stop the bleeding sometime," Slavens said. "When do we start saying we can't pay?"

Auditor Beth Myers demanded to know how she was supposed to cover the checks already written as payroll to the employees.

"I want to know where to get that money," she said. "You're going to have to answer that - today. (If not answered) Payroll will have to be voided."

"We're backed into a corner," Steve Ashby said.

Jerry Hendress made the motion to deny the transfers. "We are drawing the line in the sand today," he said.

"When we set a budget, we're going to live with it," Slavens said. "That's the signal we need to send."

With advice from commissioners' attorney Barry Emerson, the council unanimously adopted a resolution to borrow funds to cover the shortage from the cumulative bridge fund, a tax levied account. They then declared an emergency in cash flow to extend the repayment of the loan past the Dec. 31, deadline established by IC 36-1- 8-4. Deadline for repayment was extended to Jan. 31, 2008. Repayment money will be deducted from theEMS 2008 budget.

Health insurance

Another transfer request by commissioners for $49,741.22 from the cost of keeping juveniles to group insurance was approved, but not without discussion.

Slavens asked Myers if the bill for the insurance could be paid after the first of the year. She advised she had already paid the bill. The transfer was approved, however Slavens voted against the measure.

Slavens asked commissioners' president Loren Hylton, who was in the audience, if the commissioners were shopping for a different agent for health insurance.

"We're not shopping for agents," Hylton replied. "We're shopping insurance plans."

Slavens said the county could possibly save money by soliciting quotes from more than one agent.

"I agree with Ron," council president Rob Baker said.

He said he "would feel more comfortable talking with different agents."

"There's no way we're going to be able to afford what we have now with the budget we were given," Hylton replied.

Property tax rebate

Slavens made a motion to move the amount of property tax rebate, $709,454.38, plus an additional $30,462 for a total of $739,916.38 from the general fund into a separate account for tracking purposes and to more fully indicate the true picture of how much money remained in county general. Slavens' plan was to then do an inner-department loan from the reassessment fund to county general as replacement money. Myers said the reassessment fund contained $601,567.17 in reserve.

Treasurer Jane Brewington was called to the meeting to discuss the situation. She advised the reassessment money was in certificates of deposit (CD). She said one CD was going to come due Jan. 12. After checking with the bank during the meeting, she reported the CD was worth $682,746.04, but it would cost $8,973.74 in penalties for early withdrawal.

Myers advocated leaving the money in county general, where she originally put it.

"Everything has been forced today," Ann Brown said.

Ashby said it was a difficult situation for the council to struggle "to make the books work and make do."

"I have a hard time thinking it got put in there in the first place," Slavens said, referencing the auditor's decision to put the rebate money into county general.

It was decided to leave the rebate money in county general until Jan. 12 when the reassessment money could be used to replace it in county general without penalty.

Slavens recinded his motion.

Highway department

Highway superintendent Ron Francis explained he needed 13 transfers from various line items totaling $3,245.01 for operators and mechanics who worked 14 hours overtime during the recent snow storm.

Myers asked Francis if social security and PERF were included in the transfer requests.

"I don't know," he replied.

Myers determined an additional $546 was needed for the required expenses. After consulting with office staff at the highway garage, Francis proposed an additional transfer of $586.82.

All highway department transfers were approved unanimously.

Other transfers approved:

Museum - $928.04 from printing to curator and $801.73 from equipment and exhibit repair to curator assistant;

Commissioners - $49,741.22 from cost of keeping juveniles to group insurance and $165 from examination of records to drug testing;

Joint courts - $6,459.44 from jury and $1,375 from jury meals and lodging both to additional pauper counsel;

Treasurer - $1,000 from part-time to computer update module;

Sheriff - $1,111 from meals for prisoners to medical, dental doctor;

4-H Building - $800 from repairs to utilities;

Extension Office - $600 from fair to mileage;

EMA - $600 from training classes to vacation time;

Probation Dept. - $3,000 from home detention surveillance officer and $2,500 from mileage/general office both to home detention provider; and

E-911 - $1,500 from fulltime communications to parttime communications.

Other business

Brewington reported that the bank statements now balance with her records, however the funds-to-cash book is still not balanced. Brown explained that the ex-State Board of Accounts worker hired to help Brewington must meet with another expert and Brewington to straighten out the computer program data with the input data to make it meaningful.

"We hope by the end of January we can get that done," Brown said.

Baker announced he would step down as president of the council for 2008. He said he recommended a two-year termlimit for the president spot in the future.

Myers reported that a letter from the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance suggested counties with unapproved 2008 budgets revert to 2007 spending levels. Consensus was to follow the recommendation, which would include no salary increases for employees until the 2008 budget is approved.

Zoning administrator Dale Huffer was given permission to advertise for a replacement for his position due to his impending retirement. He was also given permission to solicit for legal counsel for APC.

Arnold Abbott and Christine Moore were appointed to the Property Tax Assessment Board of Appeals. The next meeting will be Jan. 4 at 8 a.m.