Because of concerns raised by an audit, the Kosciusko County Council wants to change the way money is distributed to the Kosciusko County Convention and Visitors' Bureau.

At the council meeting Thursday, council president Jim Tranter said questions were raised on the audit and with the audit, the council's name was brought into the discussion.

Previously, the council approved "lump sums" to the CVB without the CVB providing a budget to the council. Money for the CVB comes from an innkeepers' tax, which people pay when they stay at hotels, motels or other such lodgings.

Tranter said he personally believes money for the CVB should be approved at budget time like other county department budgets.

"At the very minimum," said councilman Larry Teghtmeyer, "the council should review that budget every year."

Councilman Tom Anglin said, "Anything we can do to get our fingers on where that money is going ... I'm all for it."

In 2000, the county took in $326,000 from the innkeepers' tax for the CVB, Tranter said. In 1999, they took in $334,957, and $300,395 in 1998, according to a copy of the audit. Tranter said they need to know where that money is going.

Today, CVB director Linda Arnold said she did not think the council's concern was about the figures in the audit, but that CVB is not in step with the other county departments' budgeting process. The audit was completed by Dahms & Yarian Inc.

No representatives from the CVB were present at Thursday's meeting.

Money collected from the innkeepers' tax automatically goes to the county treasurer's office. County Auditor Sue Ann Mitchell said the tax is now collected locally instead of by the state so it can be tracked more easily.

Tranter said the CVB should be contacted and should submit a budget to the council for 2001. The council will review it and make an appropriation for the CVB based on the budget submitted. The CVB also will be put in the council's budget process, which begins in August, next year and all years following. Tranter said money for the CVB will then be released quarterly instead of in a lump sum.

The council will have to approve a resolution regarding CVB's budgeting process.

In other business, the council:

• Approved the creation of an emergency cleanup fund for the Kosciusko County Health Department.

The fund will be financed by fines from health-related violations, and there will be only a few hundred dollars in the fund every year, Tranter told the council.

He said the health department is responsible for cleaning up various kinds of hazardous concerns. For example, he said, they have removed trash from county property and disposed of bee swarms.

"(Kosciusko County Health Administrator) Bob (Weaver) needs this to do obscure cleanup sometimes," said Tranter.

He said the council will have to approve expenditures from the fund when Weaver wants to use them.

• Approved a salary ordinance for a grant position in the county prosecutor's child support enforcement office. The position is funded by the grant through July.

• Approved a salary ordinance for the part-time prosecutor with a $5,000 cap.

• Approved a salary ordinance for the auditor's part-time employee.

• Approved a request from county treasurer Stephanie Esenwein to implement a wire transfer so interest from banks in which the county has accounts will go into the sweep account (a cash management system bid on by local banks).

• Approved Mitchell to write a letter on the council's behalf in support of a new House bill that will allow the county to recoup approximately $20,000 for county administrator Ron Robinson's salary.

• Heard a report from Robinson on the Justice Building expansion project.

Robinson said, "They're ahead of schedule with everything except the fireproofing," which will be done next week. Concrete will be poured today to finish the basement and concrete will be poured Monday to finish the deck, he said.

"It looks like they're really moving along," said Robinson. "It's going faster than they anticipated."

• Kosciusko County Commissioner Ron Truex told the council the county may be able to get a lower interest rate on the bond for the Justice Building expansion project by refinancing. Currently, the rate is 5.95 percent, but the county may be able to get it down to 4.75 percent, which will save the county approximately $250,000.

"If the bond rate gets to that level, we're going to go ahead and do it," said Truex. He said the county can refinance only once.

If the county can't get the lower interest rate, they will put the refinancing off and it won't cost the county a penny, he said.

• Discussed the work release center.

Truex told the council he thought the program was a benefit to the county and it pays for itself.

"It's probably some of the best money we can spend," said Robinson.

Anglin said too many people think it's a Holiday Inn, but it's not. He said it's very self-supporting.

"They do a heck of a job over there," said Tranter.

• Mitchell said the 2001 county tax rate is 8.260 percent and last year's was 8.235 percent.

She also told the council the county commissioners are the "ones who write the (Economic Development Income Tax) plan." EDIT is a tax based on income the council approved last year. It began collecting in July.

Members of the county council are president Jim Tranter, vice president Brad Tandy, Tom Anglin, Harold Jones, John Kinsey, Larry Teghtmeyer and Maurice Beer. They meet at 7 p.m. on the first Thursday of every month. [[In-content Ad]]