When researching the salary requirements for the Kosciusko County surveyor this year, the county discovered it’s been in violation of state law for years regarding paying the surveyor for section corners.
Section corners were created when the government originally surveyed Indiana into “mile square” parcels. Section corners refer to the four corners of the “mile square” parcel, according to henrycounty.net.
Thursday, the county council made an effort to rectify the situation by approving a total of $29,796 in section corner allowance for the past three years to current surveyor Mike Kissinger. Kissinger has been the county surveyor since 2015, but did not seek re-election this year and Jim Moyer was elected to replace him beginning in January.
County Auditor Alyssa Schmucker told the council, “There was discussion about the surveyor’s pay for the section corners concerning the current surveyor. We found out that there was a statutory limitation of two years to go back for that and that amount is $9,932 per year. And, so we just need the council to approve doing that. This is a state law. It’s not a ‘if you want to.’ It’s a ‘shall,’ so we just need the council to be on board for all three years.”
She suggested the council pay Kissinger for section corners for 2022, 2023 and 2024 for a total of $29,796.
Council President Mike Long said, “When we were doing research on our new surveyor’s position, we ran across this. This has largely been unknown to the county for a long time. And at that point in time, we were actually in violation of the statute since we were aware of it, so we’re trying to go back as far as the statute of limitations allows to right a wrong.”
The county was researching surveyor salaries because while Kissinger is a licensed county surveyor, Moyer is not a licensed county surveyor so the salary requirements are different.
Councilwoman Kimberly Cates said she was glad they were going back as far as they can go with the section corners pay.
“So, to clarify even more,” Councilwoman Sue Ann Mitchell said, “I believe that we thought that was included as a part of his pay until we got digging into it.”
She contacted the woman who had done the pay for all of the county surveyors in recent history. The woman told Mitchell she “never knew anything about anything to do with the additional money out of those funds.” Mitchell said she thinks that’s the reason why they had some confusion on it. “The good news is, we can clarify it.”
Long said that will be corrected from here forward and the county will be following the law.
Councilman Tony Ciriello said as a surveyor, Kissinger should have known the law enough to “come to us, too, and say, ‘hey, this is included.’ So I just want to make sure that that point was taken by me.”
Mitchell responded, “Well, at that point I’m not sure he didn’t think it was included in his salary.”
Schmucker said it wasn’t separated the right way.
“So the money is available to take care of this,” she said, and there isn’t any additional appropriation needed.
Cates made a motion to pay Kissinger the section corner allowance of $29,796 for 2022-24. Mitchell seconded the motion.
Councilman Dave Wolkins asked, “Will every surveyor get that, licensed or not licensed?” Cates said every surveyor will get it, but it’s a different amount for a licensed surveyor versus a non-licensed surveyor.
Wolkins wanted to know what activity does a surveyor do to get the allowance. “What are we paying him for?”
Long answered, “The main thing is (maintaining) the corner sections of the county.”
The motion was passed 6-0, with Councilwoman Joni Truex absent.
In other business, the council approved:
• To grant the town of Pierceton $67,201.55 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds for its sidewalk project.
• Kosciusko County Highway Department Superintendent Steve Moriarty’s request for a $50,000 transfer from one local roads and streets (LRS) fund to another to purchase gravel at the 2024 rate. They also approved another $50,000 transfer from the LRS fund to repairs and maintenance.
• Moriarty’s request to apply for a grant to replace bridge 287, which is on CR 450E between U.S. 30 and CR 100S over Deeds Creek. The total cost of the bridge replacement would be $3,161,000, with the county’s portion being $649,000 if the grant is received. The bridge replacement is scheduled for 2029. A financial commitment letter for the grant also will be signed.
• For the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office to apply for a $19,996 grant through the Kosciusko County Community Foundation for the purchase of drone equipment available to each shift. The KCSO also was approved to apply for a $200,000 grant through the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute to purchase a new body scanner.
• A list of ARPA grant budget reductions so the dollars could be reappropriated and moved to different projects, as requested by County Administrator Marsha McSherry. They totaled $897,561.
The council then approved new ARPA grant requests totaling $1,267,993 and the additional appropriations for them. The commissioners already approved all of the requests.
• McSherry’s request for an additional appropriation for $45,000 out of the employee health insurance fund for clinic staffing to finish out the year.
• County Assessor Gail Chapman’s additional appropriation request for $23,000 for legal fees to finish out a few tax exempt cases for the tax review board.
• County Clerk Ann Torpy’s request for an additional appropriation for $8,000 for part-time wages.
• A $14,000 transfer request for the KCSO from a full-time jailer position that has been vacant to part-time jailer. Matron Michelle Hyden said the transfer was needed due to the jail being short staffed and increased security needs for different reasons. She said the part-time fund was running short because they’ve been utilizing it more, but they’re not asking for additional money, they’re just transferring funds from a spot that’s been unfilled. Asked if the jail was fully staffed at this point, Hyden said no.
The council also heard the third quarter report from Leslie Friedel, Stillwater Hospice CEO, on the county allocated funds and a report from Crystal Welsh, Abonmarche, on the CR 1300N final plan. Both reports were recently given to the county commissioners. The Redevelopment Commission adopted the CR 1300N plan on Thursday. County Community Coordinator Amy Roe also provided a quarterly report to the council.
Long announced the December pre-meeting meeting will be suspended. In January, the council will have a discussion on meetings going forward.