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What can be done with more than $300,000 resulting from drug-arrest related seizures by the county's drug task force was discussed by the county council Thursday.
Sheriff Aaron Rovenstine said the amount is quite a windfall and shouldn't be expected every year.
The county will receive 35 percent of the funds and the remainder must be spent by the end of the year or it will go to the federal government.
According to auditor Sue Ann Mitchell, who talked to the Indiana criminal Justice Institute, the money can only be spent in certain ways. Specifically to equip police officers to prevent drug abuse and drug traffic.
Rovenstine presented a wish list that included the purchase of a couple of vehicles for use in either Warsaw or any town that wanted to take on the responsibility of insurance and maintenance and training an officer.
Expenditure of the dollars was approved in a 4 to 2 vote with council members Harold Jones, Tom Anglin, Bob Sanders and John Kinsey for and Larry Teghtmeyer and Charlene Knispel voting against the appropriation.
Teghtmeyer said he would rather see the money being spent to offset expenses.
Sanders wanted to know why the money would go back to the federal government and Rovenstine said the money would offset many grants received over the years.
The council approved the 2007 budget of about $13.5 million, after clearing up a few issues.
The only change was to the coroner's pay per call to $100 each.
The salary ordinance for county employees also was approved with a vote of 5 to 1, with Knispel voting against.
The area of contention was the salary for the auditor-elect. Councilmen approved the position as recommended by the wage committee last month. What they did not approve was the suggested salary.
Marsha McSherry is running unopposed for the auditor's office in the November election. Sue Ann Mitchell will stay for one more year in this "hold-over" position.
John Kinsey said he knew there had been heated discussion and controversy about the position, but it is an important one and the council wanted to ensure the next auditor had the benefit of learning from the outgoing auditor.
Bob Sanders said he voted against the salary of $35,000 initially because he wanted to make sure the current chief deputy makes more.
The chief deputy auditor's salary is $36,324 in 2007. Sanders said he didn't want any dissension in the office with the auditor-elect being paid more than the chief deputy.
Sanders also wanted to make sure the position was full-time and that the auditor-elect reported daily and was accountable to someone other than the auditor.
He nodded to McSherry who was in the audience and spoke to her after the meeting saying it is not an attack on anyone, that these conditions will hold for future auditor-elects, too.
When Anglin voted for the salary he said he would have things to explain to people.
Knispel, a former auditor, voted against the position and the salary because she didn't have the benefit of training when she was auditor-elect.
The council discussed what to do about the dispatch center's "911" funding, the tax people with "land-line" telephones pay. People who use cell phones pay a small percentage of the 911 fee and the state has directed some of that to another fund recently.
They discussed moving the levy to a property-based collection to bring the fund back to its former balances.
The account is short now and, if something isn't done, will be out of money next year. The 911 budget is $1.2 million for 2007 and will probably collect just $660,000. Appropriations could come from the general fund, cumulative capital development or the economic development income tax accounts to make up the shortfall.
The council also:
• Approved $60,000 as requested by the sheriff's department for prisoners' medical expenses.
• Approved an appropriation for the highway department in the amount of $46,000 to repair the garage and breezeway roof at the highway department.
• Approved paying the recorder-elect for 15 days of paid vacation instead of her taking vacation between Nov. 16 and the end of the year.
• Approved $230 for the voter registration deputy to receive overtime instead of a per diem on election days; $305 for election day inspectors changing their wage from $115 to $120; and $610 for election day judges, changing their wage from $95 to $100, as requested by county clerk Sharon Christner.
• Approved $4,520 for training to match a grant received by the local emergency planning department.
• Heard another joint meeting of the development commission, redevelopment commission, commissioners and council is set for Oct. 12.
Because estimates came in much higher than expected for the deceleration lane on Ind. 15 at the Louis Dreyfus facility, the company will retain 87 percent of property taxes rather than 82 percent. The change must be approved by all four boards.
Councilman Brad Tandy was absent Thursday.
