Starke County Sends Budget S.O.S
CNHI News Service
KNOX� The Starke County Council is frustrated.
It made huge cuts last Tuesday to the 2003 county general fund budget, but they aren�t enough.
After an hour of discussion, the council decided to look into calling in a local public accounting firm for help.
�We need professional help. Someone who can help us,� said Councilwoman Kiyo Ikedo, concurring with the opinion of Councilman Bruce Fingerhut.
Council members believed a firm could look into the possible errors on the revenue side. The firm could also investigate whether the county, by appeal with the state could move the county ambulance service out of the general fund. The service costs the county $717,000. Moving it would greatly reduce the amount of the budget yet to be cut.
Fingerhut agreed to contact H.J. Umbaugh and Associates of Plymouth about its services.
Rhis all happened as the council restarted its budget hearing Monday night with an audience of officeholders and county department heads. It began last Tuesday.
Council members are faced with cutting nearly an additional $1 million from the budget. They had already trimmed $750,000 at last weel�s budget hearing, with the input of county department heads.
Given the circumstances, most of them were ready to turn the budget over to the state in its present shape, cut from an estimated $4.4 million to around $3.25 million.
They believe the budget is already cut to the bone .
The general fund pays for the costs to operate county government and its various departments.
For a multitude of reasons, the county was directed to reduce its proposed general fund budget estimate of $4.4 million to $3.6 million. Those reasons include a sharp decrease in revenue sources which fund the budget. �Revenue sources are down, way down,� said Councilman Chuck Estok.
Down are miscellaneous revenue. Ambulance fees are way down. Interest revenue on investments plummeted. The reassessment tax rate dipped. One fund in particular, County Adjusted Gross Income Tax, is down $56,000. The county is already spending next year�s additional appropriations this year.
The predicted shortfall in revenue didn�t make sense to council members, either.
Why os revenue going to be down $2 million?
�I can�t believe we�re this off,� said Councilman Phil Johanan.
The budget needs to be sent to the state by Sept. 30.
Given the large budget amount still needed to be cut, the council discussed different options, looking for a big ticket item that could make up the difference.
One of them is laying off 50 county employees. That�s a step council members certainly do not want to take.
�I�m not ready to do it until absolutely forced to. I�m not willing to lay off 50 people tonight on an assumption the budget is going to be $3.6 million. You can�t run government on 30 employees,� said Estok.
The council also discussed the possibility of sending the budget to the state with cuts made so far with a letter appealing for additional time.
�That�s in order �to have more eyes to look at this,� said Estok.
The budget hearing will resume next Wednesday at 7 p.m.
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