Superior Court III Judge Chad Miner went before the Kosciusko County Council Thursday to ask for an additional appropriation of $250,000 for pauper counsel for the remainder of 2024.
He said he was making the request on behalf of his court and Superior Court II Judge Torey Bauer’s court.
“Our pauper counsel fund is running low. We still do have some left in there, but at the rate we’re going, it won’t last for the rest of the year,” Miner said.
In 2023, he said they budgeted less for pauper counsel for 2024 than what they had actually spent in 2023.
“We did have a significant increase in the number of claims that were filed in the first half of 2024, as compared to 2023. So I think kind of a combination of different things that led to the necessity of an additional appropriation,” Miner said.
Over the years, he said they’ve been collecting a court-appointed counsel fee but they couldn’t really access those fees. Councilwoman Sue Ann Mitchell worked with some people down at the state to get that sorted out so now those counsel fees can be used, Miner said.
Mitchell said the good news was that she has it all in writing so if anyone down at the state says they can’t spend the counsel fees, it’s now all documented that they can.
“And we’ve got $1 million in that fund, so that’s going to help us carry because I understand there’s some consideration for increasing the pauper counsel money by case, by hours, whatever, by the state, so we will at least have some cushion there that can help us not have to dig so deep into the general fund,” she said.
Mitchell also learned from the Public Defenders Commission that if they spend the money out of the counsel fee fund, the county will still get 40% reimbursement for pauper counsel. She said she thinks it’s a win-win for the county.
Miner said he thinks the $250,000 should be enough to get them through the rest of this year with pauper counsel.
“I guess, as a little bit of a preview for the budget meeting next week, we did increase the amount that we’re budgeting for (for 2025) by a substantial amount,” Miner stated.
Councilwoman Kimberly Cates made the motion to approve the additional appropriation out of the public defender supplemental fund, Council Vice President Kathy Groninger seconded the motion and it passed 7-0.
Council President Mike Long read the non-binding recommendation to all taxing units in the county from the council.
The council is charged with review of each taxing unit’s levy limits and the effect of property tax credits on each unit annually at the first council meeting in August, he said.
“The Kosciusko County Council supports each taxing unit’s efforts to collect what is needed for the unit to operate successfully with the least impact to taxpayers. The council does not support taxing units having large reserves with no plan, purpose or intent to spend. The council encourages each taxing unit to look seriously at their budgets and determine if proposed levies are reasonable. If cash balances on hand are in excess of what is needed to operate for one year, the maximum levy should not be needed unless you have plans for a large project,” Long read.
The letter included a list of recommendations as each taxing unit finalizes their 2025 budgets, including reviewing their 2023 year-end cash balances and reviewing 2024 certified budgets for each fund and June 30, 2024, balances.
The council unanimously approved to send the full letter to all the taxing units in the county.
At the end of Thursday’s council meeting, Councilman Dave Wolkins asked if there has been any feedback yet on a property tax exemption ordinance for mobile and manufactured homes.
At their July meeting, the council voted 4-2 to “not take any action until we get more figures on the 2024 costs and incomes figures, and we’re going to send notification to all the entities (who received 2023 mobile home tax revenue) on this sheet that we want to discuss this, we wish for their input.”
Long said he had one comment Thursday from a taxpayer that was sent to all the council members and that’s been it so far. He said there was a Sept. 1 deadline for the taxing units in the county to respond.
Auditor’s Office Chief Deputy Alyssa Schmucker said, “We have heard from all the townships in one letter that represented all of them.” She said she’s talked to one school district and they’ve had a few calls.
All responses will be provided to the council members in packets for the meeting where they will make a decision on the ordinance, Schmucker stated.
Long said he was looking to have that discussion at the November meeting so discussion would be after budget time.
In other business, the council:
• Heard the second quarter report from Kosciusko County Community Coordinator Amy Roe on the Hoosier Enduring Legacy Program (HELP) projects.
HELP is through the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs (OCRA).
“For the construction grants, I met with MACOG (Michiana Area Council of Governments). We are looking at the release of funds for those projects in October of this year. And then after the release of funds for that, contracts can be executed and then projects can begin” weather dependent, she said.
For the planning projects, she said they look for the release of funds to be in September. After that contracts can be executed and planning can commence.
OCRA has the grant funds through HELP to be released.
Those are related to projects by the towns of Mentone, Milford and Pierceton. Roe said bids for the projects have been received and are under advisement. She said the water meters for Milford will be easy and she anticipates, but doesn’t guarantee, they will be completed by year’s end. The park improvements in Mentone will be dependent on the weather as to when that will be completed, as will the sidewalk trails in Pierceton.
• Heard a quarterly update from Stillwater Hospice CEO Leslie Friedel, who gave a similar report to the county commissioners at their last meeting. As part of the county giving Stillwater $50,000 this year, Stillwater has to give the county quarterly reports on how they’re serving county residents with those funds.
• Reviewed the commissary report from Sheriff Jim Smith, which also will be reviewed by the county commissioners on Tuesday.