Commissioners Approve Funding Mechanism For Potential Drain Reconstruction
September 30, 2020 at 3:49 a.m.
Commissioners Approve Funding Mechanism For Potential Drain Reconstruction
By David [email protected]
Mike Kissinger, county surveyor, explained reconstruction money is financed typically through the county drain fund and then the landowners within the drainage shed area pay it back.
“This particular situation, because it is such a large project – it’s 11,450 feet long and the estimated cost on that is $357,000. We don’t have $357,000 in our general drain fund, which, by the way, that fund also finances other reconstructions and any shortfalls in maintenance, if we’re doing maintenance. The ditch doesn’t have enough money in it. That’s where the money comes from,” he said.
Kissinger went to the county council earlier this month and asked them if they could put $60,000 per year for five years toward the reconstruction. Instead, the council suggested the money should come from the Rainy Day Fund and they agreed to appropriate the money to do that. Because the money is through the commissioners’ budget, the commissioners have to approve the $357,000 coming out of the Rainy Day Fund.
The James Welch ditch was built in 1904 and that’s when the tile was put in. Parts of it were put in between 1904 and 1941. The north end of the open tile drain is east of Ind. 19 and north of CR 200S and ends just south of Shilling Road and east of CR 950W, just north of Mentone. The area is just under 600 acres and 18 different landowners will be affected. The tile is 12 inches on the southeast corner to 30 inches wide on the northwest corner.
“There’s a couple areas that are really suffering right now and the landowners asked me to take a look at it and see if it would justify reconstruction, and it sure definitely does,” Kissinger said.
In defining what a reconstruction means, he said it “means basically the ditch no longer functions as it was constructed to do.”
After the James Welch ditch is addressed, Kissinger said the county has seven other ditches that need reconstruction. “But this is kind of a roadblock. We can’t move on to the next ones until we take care of this one,” he said.
Commissioner Brad Jackson asked if Kissinger felt the surveyor’s office has done everything else it could up to now. Kissinger said you have to separate the maintenance from the reconstruction. Maintenance is ongoing while reconstruction “is another beast. You basically reconstruct it, the landowners pay for it one time. They have five years to pay it back and then we go on with maintenance. So, yes, I think we’ve done our job on maintenance. We’re getting closer and closer to paying back those debts. It takes a while.”
Kissinger reminded the commissioners the money gets paid back. The landowners have five years to pay their share. The first year is interest free, but there’s a 10% interest charged every year after that because of state statute.
Normally, the money would come out of the drain fund.
County Auditor Michelle Puckett said she reached out to the State Board of Accounts and asked about inter-fund loans, which the county normally doesn’t do.
“Since this is a reconstruction, it has different restrictions,” she said. “So what the State Board of Accounts recommended, the only place we can transfer money from the Rainy Day Fund to is county general. So this is going to be a multi-step process. So the Rainy Day Fund would have to transfer those dollars to county general. The county general would have to transfer them to the general drain, and then general drain would have to transfer them to reconstruction.”
Puckett said the process would be done via resolutions. The multi-step process would span five to seven years, and “when everything is complete is when they start paying that back. And when those taxpayers pay it back, if they pay it back in the first installment, the first payment there’s no interest. But if they carry it out to the five years, there is interest on those payments.”
Commissioner Cary Groninger said the reconstruction project “is like the 800-pound gorilla that’s in our road that we can’t get around. Mike and his staff have done a great job in trying to lay out the reconstruction projects the county needs to handle. This is that big one that’s kind of a roadblock.”
Kissinger said this was just the first step in making sure he had the funds available to do the project, but the Drainage Board has to have a public hearing first to determine if it’s a go. The Drainage Board can maintain, reconstruct or abandon a drain. If the board doesn’t go forward with the James Welch Drain project, then the reconstruction money won’t get spent.
“If the Drainage Board approves it, then the landowners, after the project is over, that’s when they get their bill for the entire amount. About 60 to 75% of that gets paid back the first year because people realize they don’t want to pay 10%,” Kissinger said.
He said the hearing will be interesting because one landowner owns 36% of the entire shed area.
“The Drainage Board is going to have a tough decision to make,” Kissinger said.
The tentative timeline is for the public hearing to be December or January; a contract to be let February or March, probably March; and then construction project will be do to finish up May 15 or after, depending on crops.
“So it’s not until then that the landowners even get billed,” Kissinger said. “I do want to make sure everyone understands that this project goes into 2021. But I have to make sure there’s going to be money there.”
The first payment for landowners will come due in about 2022.
Groninger asked to confirm if there’s been a verbal request for the reconstruction, and Kissinger said “for about four to five years.”
Groninger made the motion to approve Kissinger’s request to transfer money from the Rainy Day Fund and it was unanimously approved. Puckett will work with county attorney Chad Miner on the resolutions and process for the funding.
Mike Kissinger, county surveyor, explained reconstruction money is financed typically through the county drain fund and then the landowners within the drainage shed area pay it back.
“This particular situation, because it is such a large project – it’s 11,450 feet long and the estimated cost on that is $357,000. We don’t have $357,000 in our general drain fund, which, by the way, that fund also finances other reconstructions and any shortfalls in maintenance, if we’re doing maintenance. The ditch doesn’t have enough money in it. That’s where the money comes from,” he said.
Kissinger went to the county council earlier this month and asked them if they could put $60,000 per year for five years toward the reconstruction. Instead, the council suggested the money should come from the Rainy Day Fund and they agreed to appropriate the money to do that. Because the money is through the commissioners’ budget, the commissioners have to approve the $357,000 coming out of the Rainy Day Fund.
The James Welch ditch was built in 1904 and that’s when the tile was put in. Parts of it were put in between 1904 and 1941. The north end of the open tile drain is east of Ind. 19 and north of CR 200S and ends just south of Shilling Road and east of CR 950W, just north of Mentone. The area is just under 600 acres and 18 different landowners will be affected. The tile is 12 inches on the southeast corner to 30 inches wide on the northwest corner.
“There’s a couple areas that are really suffering right now and the landowners asked me to take a look at it and see if it would justify reconstruction, and it sure definitely does,” Kissinger said.
In defining what a reconstruction means, he said it “means basically the ditch no longer functions as it was constructed to do.”
After the James Welch ditch is addressed, Kissinger said the county has seven other ditches that need reconstruction. “But this is kind of a roadblock. We can’t move on to the next ones until we take care of this one,” he said.
Commissioner Brad Jackson asked if Kissinger felt the surveyor’s office has done everything else it could up to now. Kissinger said you have to separate the maintenance from the reconstruction. Maintenance is ongoing while reconstruction “is another beast. You basically reconstruct it, the landowners pay for it one time. They have five years to pay it back and then we go on with maintenance. So, yes, I think we’ve done our job on maintenance. We’re getting closer and closer to paying back those debts. It takes a while.”
Kissinger reminded the commissioners the money gets paid back. The landowners have five years to pay their share. The first year is interest free, but there’s a 10% interest charged every year after that because of state statute.
Normally, the money would come out of the drain fund.
County Auditor Michelle Puckett said she reached out to the State Board of Accounts and asked about inter-fund loans, which the county normally doesn’t do.
“Since this is a reconstruction, it has different restrictions,” she said. “So what the State Board of Accounts recommended, the only place we can transfer money from the Rainy Day Fund to is county general. So this is going to be a multi-step process. So the Rainy Day Fund would have to transfer those dollars to county general. The county general would have to transfer them to the general drain, and then general drain would have to transfer them to reconstruction.”
Puckett said the process would be done via resolutions. The multi-step process would span five to seven years, and “when everything is complete is when they start paying that back. And when those taxpayers pay it back, if they pay it back in the first installment, the first payment there’s no interest. But if they carry it out to the five years, there is interest on those payments.”
Commissioner Cary Groninger said the reconstruction project “is like the 800-pound gorilla that’s in our road that we can’t get around. Mike and his staff have done a great job in trying to lay out the reconstruction projects the county needs to handle. This is that big one that’s kind of a roadblock.”
Kissinger said this was just the first step in making sure he had the funds available to do the project, but the Drainage Board has to have a public hearing first to determine if it’s a go. The Drainage Board can maintain, reconstruct or abandon a drain. If the board doesn’t go forward with the James Welch Drain project, then the reconstruction money won’t get spent.
“If the Drainage Board approves it, then the landowners, after the project is over, that’s when they get their bill for the entire amount. About 60 to 75% of that gets paid back the first year because people realize they don’t want to pay 10%,” Kissinger said.
He said the hearing will be interesting because one landowner owns 36% of the entire shed area.
“The Drainage Board is going to have a tough decision to make,” Kissinger said.
The tentative timeline is for the public hearing to be December or January; a contract to be let February or March, probably March; and then construction project will be do to finish up May 15 or after, depending on crops.
“So it’s not until then that the landowners even get billed,” Kissinger said. “I do want to make sure everyone understands that this project goes into 2021. But I have to make sure there’s going to be money there.”
The first payment for landowners will come due in about 2022.
Groninger asked to confirm if there’s been a verbal request for the reconstruction, and Kissinger said “for about four to five years.”
Groninger made the motion to approve Kissinger’s request to transfer money from the Rainy Day Fund and it was unanimously approved. Puckett will work with county attorney Chad Miner on the resolutions and process for the funding.
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