By VICKI URBANIK

Crunch time.

The Porter County Council is at that stage in its annual budget hearings where every dollar decision is coming under tight scrutiny, now that the council might be on the brink of exceeding state spending restrictions.

At one point at Monday’s budget hearing, the auditor’s office calculated that the council was $177,000 over its levy limit for 2009. At another point, the council had about $350,000 to spare.

Several times, Council President Robert Poparad, D-1st, questioned if there will be enough in the end for employee raises. “Our little pot’s getting smaller,” he said.

A big part of the budgetary uncertainty involves the Porter County Jail and the county’s past reliance on state and federal fees for paying jailers and other jail expenses. Now that the fee-driven fund is dwindling, the council wants to move at least some of these expenses – which this year totals $1.2 million -- into the county general fund.

If it weren’t for these particular jail expenses, the council actually would have a healthy cushion of more than $900,000 with all the budget decisions made so far. But absorbing the jailer expenses could significantly eat up the anticipated $1.3 million levy increase allowed by the state.

Among the big-ticket items that the council is facing for 2009:

•A boost in medical and other insurance costs, totaling $304,469.

•A nearly $300,000 increase in fuel costs for county vehicles.

•Across-the-board raises for county employees. The cost would be $333,750 for $750 raises and $443,000 for $1,000 raises.

•A $55,613 increase for picking up the salary of the Environmental Coordinator, now that a fee-based fund that used to pay this expense is nearly exhausted.

•State-required raises for juvenile probation officers, $28,765.

The council has already agreed to grant other budget increases, such as a $13,520 part-time position for Veterans Services and an additional $27,000 for the Council on Aging and Community Services. But it’s also facing a few other discretionary decisions, including larger pay hikes for several departments and a $120,000 expenditure for a new Human Relations department (see related stories).

To be sure, the council has made budget cuts.

The biggest savings has come from the decision to eliminate overtime. By cutting overtime, the council is able to hack at least $143,430 from the ‘09 general fund budgets for the auditor, sheriff, clerk, Voter Registration, and Animal Shelter.

The council also got a healthy dose of breathing room late into the budget hearing Monday when it cut $450,650 out of the Election Board’s budget for next year. Next year is an off-election year, though the county expects to have referendums, particularly for new school projects, as allowed by a new state law.

The budget that prompted the most involved discussion Monday was the Sheriff’s Department. In the end, the council directed Sheriff Dave Lain to rework the figures and to return at Thursday’s budget hearing.

Tentatively, the council slashed the sheriff’s budget in several ways: By moving a $31,529 process server supervisor out of the general fund, with the salary to be paid through sheriff sales; by eliminating a $13,600 expense for police response during the Porter County Fair, with the idea that the Fair Board should pick up this cost; and by slashing overtime, which was listed at $100,000 in one part of the budget but $50,000 in the line item.

In addition, the council tentatively agreed to direct the money generated from prisoners who use jail phones into Fund 217, the state and federal prisoner fee fund.

Using this money to shore up the fund could keep some of the jailer expenses in Fund 217 and out of the general fund, Poparad said.

“The pay phone money is loose money,” he said.

The pay phones are said to generate about $17,000 a month, or about $204,000 a year.

The county budget hearings resume Thursday at 5 p.m.

Posted 8/19/2008