Kosciusko County Council passed its own 2013 budget Thursday and gave the nod to area civil budgets – with one stipulation.
The county’s total 2013 budget is $32,068,619, which County Auditor Marsha McSherry noted shows only a bare minimum increase for most accounts. The council also approved a salary ordinance with a 2 percent pay increase for full- and part-time employees.
Councilmen earlier passed a non-binding recommendation that all civil taxing units in the county be held at or below the state growth quotient of 2.8 percent.
In contrast, the average increase in civil budgets in the county is almost 7 percent, observed councilman Larry Teghtmeyer.
“It’s pretty remarkable in some areas, that the budgets are increasing despite property evaluations going down,” he said, observing that Turkey Creek had the largest budget increase at 24 percent and listing other entities with higher budgets but lower evaluations. “It’s good for us to bring that out, when we see all these together.”
He added it was concerning for the economic health of the county to see so many properties for sale around the lakes, and higher tax bills for summer residents, who don’t benefit from homestead credits.
Councilman Jim Moyer said it’s important for the public to take the time to look at the budgets in their area, while his colleague Bob Sanders cautioned that it’s hard to ask a town to operate on last year’s budget.
“I know it looks like an increase for the sake of an increase, but it’s because of the cost of doing business,” Sanders said. “Where we are in the economy, it’s expensive to operate.”
They also passed a Solid Waste District budget with an increase of 2.34 percent over last year.
The council approved as well several fund transfers for costs such as employment, software updates and repairs to a sheriff’s vehicle that was in an accident.
The council spent the bulk of the meeting discussing County Assessor Laurie Renier’s request to contract with Pictometry International Corp. for aerial photography of the county.
The company is proposing one flyover for $257,935, or three flyovers in six years at a total of $652,505. There would be an additional cost per flight of $18,000 for the company to track visible changes to structures made between flyovers.
The photography would be at a resolution of one pixel per four inches, more detailed than digital maps the county previously contracted for.
Company representatives also noted the digital photographs – taken both from an overhead view and an angle that shows structure heights and allows measurement of building features – could be useful to other county departments, such as public works and emergency services.
Renier told the council the expense is covered by her $1.5 million budget for assessment purposes, and noted studying the detailed imagery would save the cost of sending employees to inspect many locations personally.
She added that the state is placing additional demands on county assessors, with a schedule of assessments that she said many consider unrealistic.
Councilmen questioned whether the aerial imagery was cost effective.
“I’m trying to rationalize it, since it’s the people’s money we’re spending,” Sanders said, adding that he calculated the cost at $3.76 per parcel of land. “It makes sense but it seems to me there’s still something missing.”
The council asked Renier to come back with support from other county agencies and towns who say they could benefit from the imagery.
