Although they denied the same request in June, the Bartholomew County Council has now approved $73,717 to hire two additional emergency dispatchers this year.
That’s about 45% of the funds needed for the new hires, with the city of Columbus picking up the remaining 55% of the cost, Emergency 911 Center Director Todd Noblitt said.
But in terms of Noblitt’s request to hire four additional dispatchers next year, the council says Noblitt will have to wait until after 2020 budget discussions begin Thursday afternoon.
Members wanted to first learn how much Bartholomew County Sheriff Matt Myers is requesting for next year in both his law enforcement and jail divisions, council president Matt Miller said.
If Noblitt is given what he says he needs in 2020, a total of six new emergency dispatchers will hired between now and July 1, 2020. He estimates the total cost will be $378,588 that is split between the city and county based on population, the E911 director said.
Both Myers and Noblitt made presentations Monday, which was the first day of the council’s week-long budget discussions that are held each August for the following year.
Law enforcement
For the sheriff’s department itself, Myers is seeking an overall budget increase of $395,717 from this year. That money will come mostly from the property-tax supported county general fund, the sheriff said.
In requesting $63,499 for an additional detective, Sheriff’s Capt. Chris Roberts said his five current detectives worked 600 cases last year. With the heavy caseload, that forces the investigators to prioritize violent crimes and sexual assault over property crimes.
As an example, Myers said the number of child molestation cases in Bartholomew County has risen by 56% over the past few years, Myers said. The number of both violent crimes and sexual assault continues to escalate in the county, Roberts said.
With each detective handling up to 17 open cases at any given time, their work load is so large that Roberts – who is supposed to spend his time exclusively as a supervisor – is being forced to handle several cases himself, the sheriff said.
"Sexual assault cases are the hardest cases to work, and it burns a lot of our guys out," Myers said. "We’d like to spread (all of the cases) out."
Besides helping with burnout, an extra detective would also allow investigations of property crimes to be given a higher priority, the sheriff said.
In terms of salaries, Myers is requesting a 3-percent across-the-board increase. But the sheriff is also asking for an additional $10,054 for pay increases based on a matrix established last year that includes factors such as military experience, specialized training, longevity and shift differentials.
After extensive discussions on Monday, most council members expressed a willingness to assist Flat Rock-Hawcreek School Corp. in paying for a school resource officer for the second year in a row.
During last year’s budget discussions, the Hope-area schools agreed to pay $45,000 of the $78,000 required for a full-time sheriff’s deputy at Hauser Jr.-Sr. High and Hope Elementary schools to serve as an SRO. On Monday, superintendent Shawn Price says his school corporation is willing to increase that amount to $65,000 next year, pending approval of the school board, as well as add additional security measures.
In other expenses, Myers says he plans to save $43,674 by buying eight new cars in 2020, instead of the nine approved for this year.
Other proposed purchases include $27,480 in stun guns, as well as $78,072 for new bullet-proof vest and stab bests. The department is also seeking $20,000 to refurbish one of their rescue boats.
Jail
Myers is seeking an overall budget increase of $426,425 from 2019 for jail operations, he told the council. That money will come from a correctional fund containing local income tax revenue, rather than general fund dollars, the sheriff said.
Much of the discussion held Monday focused on the fact that correction employees who remain at the same rank never get a raise – no matter how many years they have worked.
Due to the intense nature of jail security positions, as well as the no-raise policy, the jail has already lost 14 employees in the past eight months, and have been unable to to fill five open positions, Myers said.
While the sheriff is asking for a 3% pay increase for all jail employees, Myers is also asking that qualifying staff receive additional pay through a matrix system similar to what was enacted for merit deputies last year. He estimates the additional cost will be $127,585 for next year.
In addition to considerations such as specialized training, longevity and shift differentials, the department also wants an additional $7,000 to boost the pay of military veterans working at the jail.
In addition, the department is also asking for $70,000 to pay for a drug addiction treatment coordinator.
For the first time, the department will be using its own budget to pay for utilities because those expenses can be paid out of local income tax revenue, rather than property taxes, county auditor Pia O’Connor said.
During nearly two hours of discussion, the council did not take any votes on any of Myers’ proposals. Council deliberations are expected to begin late Thursday afternoon, and continue into Friday.
Total county revenue in 2020 is expected to be $55,070,026 — more than the $51,554,286 preliminary budget, according to a report from O’Connor. For all departments, proposed expenditures are $1,268,910 higher than this year, the report states.
Local income tax revenue is estimated to be $19,134,984 — an increase of $580,376 or 3.13% from this year, O’Connor said.
The traditional, property-tax supported county general fund is estimated to have $29,828,291 next year. That will be roughly $2.8 million higher than what was provided for 2019.
A public hearing on the proposed budget for next year will be held on Tuesday, Sept. 10, starting at 6 p.m. on the fourth floor of the Bartholomew County Governmental Office Building, located at the corner of Third and Franklin streets.
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Today and Thursday – Departmental budget presentations continue, beginning at 1 p.m. both days.
Aug. 15-16: Council deliberations begin late Thursday afternoon after final presentation, and will continue at 1 p.m. Friday.
Aug. 19-20: Continuation of budget review if needed from noon until 6 p.m. both days.
Aug 30: Roundtable meeting with appointed and elected officials. 8:30 a.m.
Sept. 10: Public hearing and first reading of county budget, Visitors Information and Promotion Commission budget, and Sold Waste Management District budgets 6 p.m.
Oct. 8: Second reading and adoption of all the three budgets. 6 p.m.
Council chambers are located on the fourth floor of the Bartholomew County Governmental Office building, located at the northwest corner of Third and Franklin streets.
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