Bartholomew County Council members unanimously adopted a record $51.6 million budget for 2020 on Tuesday with no comments from the audience or elected officials.
The total includes $27.47 million for the mostly property-tax supported General Fund – about $1.8 million higher than this year, county auditor Pia O’Connor said. But it also includes other income sources that include income tax revenue, several grants and fees, O’Connor explained.
A local option income tax fund specifically earmarked for jail expenditures is receiving $4.9 million — about $600,000 more than this year. An older section of the jail that had been closed for a number of years is being reopened to handle overcrowding, as well as establish in-house addiction treatment.
There is also a county economic development income tax fund that will receive $3.2 million next year. Much of that fund will be used next year for the new Bartholomew County Highway Garage project, as well as for other building improvements and maintenance, O’Connor said.
Due largely to the council’s 2017 approval of a 40 percent increase in local income taxes, budget discussions since August have been mostly trouble-free, council president Matt Miller said in an earlier interview.
For more on this story, see Thursday’s Republic.
