Carl Lienhoop
Bartholomew County government has sufficient money to comply with all 2023 budget requests, so some assumed the county council’s annual budget process would have moved along smoothly this month.
But two weeks after departmental budget presentations got underway, the Bartholomew County Council has still not come up with a final spending plan for next year. The council is scheduled to continue their deliberations Monday from 1 to 5 p.m. in their chambers.
While meeting with administration heads, council members were told by every department head they are facing an employee crisis, county Auditor Pia O’Connor said.
Chief Deputy Auditor Dalene Pattingill reported that six employees left the county’s employment on Aug. 5 within two hours of each other. They were among 55 who resigned since the first of the year, Pattingill said.
That includes up to five employees of the Youth Services Center, about 10 staff members at the Bartholomew County Jail and six employees of the 911 Emergency Services Center, council member Mark Gorbett said.
The Bartholomew County commissioners recommended that department heads request a 5% pay raise to help salaries come closer to recommendations within a salary study that compares wages with comparable workers in other Indiana counties.
Currently, the county has more than $10 million in reserve funds, and may have nearly $15 million of disposable cash in the general fund by the end of summer, the county auditor said.
“The council didn’t need to cut a thing,” O’Connor stated. “We have ample reserves in all funds.
Nevertheless, the seven-member council has been cutting almost all new spending requests, O’Connor said. As of Aug. 19th, the council was considering 3.5% salary hikes, instead of the 5% recommended by the county commissioners.
Two council members, Greg Duke and Matt Miller, were critical of the county commissioners’ total 2023 budget request of $14,086,813 – an 18% increase from this year.
Commissioners Chairman Carl Lienhoop admits his three-member executive board is not proud that their budget was $2 million higher than last year.
“We don’t like to do that,” Lienhoop said. “If the community compares us to a year ago, they might get the impression the commissioners went on a drunk spending spree.”
In reality, the commissioners’ total insurance bill will be 15% to 20% higher next year than this year, Lienhoop said. That includes a $250,185 increase (37% hike) for liability and similar coverage.
“I tried to impress upon the council that, first of all, we have a lot of employees that drive county vehicles and stuff happens,” Lienhoop said. “Secondly, our jail is a (extremely high) liability.”
The commissioners were also criticized by Duke and Miller for requesting $1.5 million to replace the heating, ventilation and air conditioning units at the county courthouse without submitting a written plan, multiple bids and a time frame.
The estimate regarding the 20-year-old HVAC system, which is already causing some pipes in the courthouse to fail, was based on a recent bid to do the same work at the Bartholomew County Jail that was far more expensive than anticipated, Lienhoop said. The estimate given to the council was determined only after consultations with county maintenance director Rick Trimpe, the commissioner said.
“We felt they were fairly safe figures,” the commissioners’ chairman said. “But honestly, the system at the courthouse isn’t broke. We’ll put it off for another year, and perhaps place it in the 2024 budget.”
Lienhoop made it clear there’s more at stake than personal pride.
“Honestly, you have to bite your tongue and watch your words, because at the end of the day, we still have to work together to get things done,” Lienhoop said.
“Getting things done” includes the council’s approval early this summer of a request from the county commissioners to allocate $2.2 million to pay off the county’s portion of the new Court Services Building. It’s an act that will save $825,000 in interest over the next 15 years. County council member Jorge Morales also brought up a July, 2020 decision by the commissioners to transfer up to $700,000 of their money to the council’s control for the purchase of 57 body cameras and 54 car cameras.
But it just wasn’t the commissioners’ budget that was being cut.
The Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department requested a total of $12,489,799 for next year’s law enforcement, jail, courthouse security and ASAP addiction problems. That would be a 6.4% increase from this year’s budget.
Their proposed budget called for promoting two sergeants to the rank of lieutenant, and have them join Lt. T.A. Smith as shift commanders. If that plan would have been approved, it would necessitate the hiring of two new road deputies at a cost $118,470 – and the purchase of two patrol vehicles for $214,850.
But after meeting with department heads from Aug. 15-18, the county council said they were going to cut the two new deputies and their cars – at least for the moment. Due to inflation, the commissioners have increased their allotment for gasoline and oil by an additional $200,000.
In addition, the cumulative bridge fund was raised to about $5.5 million after concerns expressed by county highway engineer Danny Hollander were brought up by O’Connor
“Everything has gotten more expensive, so as Danny said, he has been really kind of strapped to be able to do the bridge work he needs to do with the amount of revenue in the cumulative bridge fund,” O’Connor said. “He’s also been strapped for highway funds since the gas tax has been fluctuating.’
