|
|
|
By VICKI URBANIK The Porter County Council wrapped up its 2009 county budget hearings Tuesday by granting $1,000 raises to elected officials and boosting the pay even more for six employees in the County Auditor’s office. The council, which began its budget work in August and resumed the hearings this week, ended up increasing the main county general fund by about $445,000, far lower than what the state is expected to allow in property tax collections for 2009. The remaining balance, estimated at $744,000, will be left unallocated and used for additional appropriations as needed in 2009. In one of the last budget decisions made Tuesday, the council agreed to give the county’s elected officials the same $1,000 raise awarded to most other full-time county employees, while granting part of Porter County Auditor Jim Kopp’s request for higher pay for some of his top employees. Council member Rita Stevenson, D-2nd, proposed the raises for elected officials, who up until Tuesday were not in line to get pay hikes. She said it’s only fair that elected officials get a raise if other county workers do as well. Supporting her was council member Michael Bucko, D-4th, who said that if the county wants the most qualified people to run for office, it needs to set the pay accordingly. The motion passed 4-2, with Stevenson, Bucko, Karen Conover, R-3rd, and Jim Burge, R-at large, voting in favor and council president Robert Poparad, D-1st, and Dan Whitten, D-at large, voting no. William Carmichael, R-at large, was absent. Stevenson herself will end up with a $2,000 raise, since she is a full-time county clerk’s office employee as well as an elected council member. The pay for council members in 2009 will be $13,895, except for the council president who will be paid $2,000 more. Auditor Pay Another last-minute budget decision Tuesday dealt with larger raises for the auditor’s staff. Kopp sought increases ranging from $1,200 for his chief deputy and several others to $2,600 for a real estate deputy, all in addition to the standard $1,000 raise. After seeing his pay request tabled in August, Kopp on Monday tried again for the raises. He said that it’s not fair that some of his top deputies earn less than comparable positions in some other departments. He also blasted what he said is a “very bad situation” in county government with widespread nepotism. The council rejected the higher pay on Monday, but then on Tuesday, Bucko presented the request on behalf of Kopp. Bucko said the auditor’s staff has been doing a “great job” dealing with a myriad of longstanding county tax problems and that the office is close to issuing this year’s final property tax bills. He said the employees should be rewarded for the work performed. Although he said he doesn’t think the county is “home free by any stretch of the imagination,” it is close to resolving years of faulty tax data. Chief Deputy Alizabeth Bailey also put in a pitch for the higher pay, noting that another county office, Information Technology Services, received larger raises for some staffers after being praised for a restructuring that eliminated one position. She said the auditor’s office has also cut a position. The council at first rejected the pay request, with only Bucko and Whitten voting yes. But after Burge suggested amending the request to remove the proposed $750 raises for the Geographic Information System staff, the proposal passed 5-1, with only Stevenson voting no. The additional pay hikes apply to six auditor staff, bringing the pay ranges from about $30,000 to $42,254. Time Clocks The last budget decision made Tuesday dealt with setting aside $150,000 in the council’s own budget for employee time clocks and other expenses that may arise with consultants. Council members previously discussed implementing a time clock system for county employees to track their hours. Burge, who has been a strong advocate of hiring a county human relations director, opposed the move. He said there are various ways for employees to manipulate time clocks, and that if there are concerns about the hours that employees work, a real solution would have been to establish an HR department at the $120,000 proposed. But the $150,000 in funding was approved 4-2, with Burge and Whitten voting no. Another budget measure approved Tuesday reaffirmed an earlier decision to move the position of Old Jail Museum director from a contracted post to a full-time employee. The position, at $27,800, was placed in the county commissioners’ budget. 2008 Budget Not Final The council’s final adoption of its 2009 budget comes less than a week after the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance issued the long-awaited 2008 budget order for Porter County taxing units, clearing the way for this year’s final tax bills to go out and resolving the question of how much taxing units are allowed to spend this calendar year. However, while the DLGF certified a property tax levy for the county government, it did not approve the county’s actual 2008 budget because the budget was “not properly appropriated.” DLGF Director of Communications Mary Jane Michalak said the council adopted its budget last year on a day other than what was advertised to the public. The state legally cannot issue budget approvals in such instances, she said. To get an approved 2008 budget, the council will need to go through the procedure of approving an additional appropriation that essentially releases the money collected for this year’s budget. That action will be taken at the council’s December meeting, Poparad said.
Posted 11/19/2008
|
