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Budget hearings for the Kosciusko County Council began Monday in the county courthouse.
The hearings will continue today at 6 p.m. and conclude Thursday at 6 p.m.
Wages for all county employees will be approved later by the county council and will be based on the recommendation of the wage committee.
However, the following budget figures include the proposed employee salaries (which were not part of the approved budgets Monday) in order to compare the budgets to previous years.
Slight changes were made to the county commissioners' 2001 budget.
The county council reduced the money request by Kosciusko Development Inc. from $50,000 to $35,000 based on the recommendation of the commissioners. The $35,000 request by the Kosciusko County Council on Aging was reduced to $27,500.
Also part of the commissioners' proposed budget is a 10 percent increase in salaries for the commissioners, human resource director and other positions. Commissioner Brad Jackson told the council that they are not proposing 10 percent raises, but they see that as the maximum amount. By proposing such a high increase, the wage committee will have more room to propose their salaries because the council and wage committee can decrease the proposed figure but not increase it, Jackson said.
The total 2001 commissioners' budget, including salaries yet to be approved, is approximately $4.5 million.
Coroner Larry Ladd has transported bodies in his own vehicle in the past. That's one reason, he said, he is asking to purchase a truck for the coroner's office in 2001 for approximately $24,000. The purchase of the truck, along with mileage, fuel and travel expenses, will increase his budget from $40,313 in 2000 to $65,174 in 2001.
"I think the need is there. A lot of surrounding counties do provide that for their coroner," Ladd said.
A decision on the purchase of a truck was tabled to allow councilman Jim Tranter to talk to county administrator Ron Robinson regarding insurance and other costs related to the purchase of a truck.
Joan Younce presented the council with the 2001 budget for the Extension Office for $172,973. The budget is an increase of $8,520, with half of the increase for office equipment and contractual services. Younce said the figure for contractual services is predetermined and paid out in two equal payments.
The 20001 projected budget for the county assessor's office is $178,762, an increase of $6,822.
Commercial and industrial reassessment will decrease by $40,550 for 2001 to $70,926. Assessor Sharon Thompson said that figure will increase later this year when she requests $36,000 in the 2000 budget to be appropriated to the 2001 budget.
Thompson also presented the 2001 budget for property reassessment '99 at $39,500. The budget is $524,950 less than the 2000 figure because 2001 is a non-reassessment year.
Mileage, fuel and travel, dues, subscriptions and meeting per diem will increase for the county recorder's office. LaShawn Brumfield said her deputies are eager to learn more about their jobs so she increased those fund accounts to allow them to receive more training. The recorder's 2001 budget is projected at $169,805, an increase from 2000 of $9,940.
One of the biggest changes for the auditor's budget, not including wages, is a decrease of $5,000 for overtime pay. Other decreases are in telephone repair and maintenance. The 2001 projected auditor's budget is $380,877, a 3.97 percent increase.
"We've had some major expenses," county maintenance director Don Taylor told the council. With the new work release center, the county courthouse and jail, he said, they have more expenses than previous years. Taylor's 2001 budget request was for $570,892, an increase over the 2000 budget of $546,377.
Emergency Management's 2001 projected budget is $25,314, an increase of only $467. Emergency Planning's 2001 budget is the same as 2000 at $8,560.
Next year is a non-election year. Therefore, the 2001 Election Board budget will decrease by $137,030 to $36,499. Registration budget will decrease by $5,720 to $13,740. County clerk Marsha McSherry said the postage for registration will increase by $1,000 due to an increase in voter registration.
The clerk's budget itself will increase 9.51 percent ($47,236) to $543,896. Half of the increase includes a new clerk position, which will not be voted on until Thursday's meeting.
Other budgets include: county surveyor, $112,247; drainage board, $154,005; county jail, $1,181,198; sheriff, $1,834,170; law enforcement forfeitures, $22,500; AD Grant, $93,709; Cops In Schools Grant, $74,752; DARE grant, $435,311; county corrections, $55,718; Emergency 911, $662,160; Area Plan Commission, $244,646.
For the county correction, AD grant, school and DARE grants, the council approved the positions and office supplies. The rest of the budgets are for salaries, which will be determined by the wage committee and approved by the council Thursday.
Members of the county council are Brad Tandy, Jim Tranter, Harold Jones, John Kinsey, Lewis Bertsch, Tom Anglin and Kathryn Teel.
