By VICKI URBANIK

Faced with a loss of state funds that would boost tax bills for property owners, Porter County officials are trying to figure out just how to pay off a $2.8 million debt accumulated in the past 25 years for housing juvenile offenders in state institutions.

Porter County Circuit Court Judge Mary Harper has negotiated a deal with the state in which the county would pay 25 percent of its total debt upfront, or $700,000, then equal payments annually for the next five years at no interest. The payment schedule calls for the first payment to be made in 90 days.

Harper told the Porter County Council Tuesday that the last time the county was up to date on its state juvenile payments was in 1984 for male juvenile offenders and in 1985 for females.

Since then, the bills from the state Department of Corrections kept accumulating. In some years, Porter County made no payments, and in other years, it only made partial payments, Harper said. Not only did the county ignore the bills, but also the state did nothing to collect the money.

But this year, a proposal in the Indiana Legislature threatens the 58 counties with delinquent bills of a loss of their property tax replacement credits corresponding to the amounts owed. The state pays the credits to counties, which in turn cuts individual tax bills.

The threat of the loss of property tax credits is a “huge hammer” over the heads of counties with the debts, Harper said.

Harper’s office was given the authority last year to review the outstanding bills and to verify their accuracy. Harper said that after an extensive review by staff members, in particular Chief Juvenile Probation Officer Amy Beier, it has been determined that about 1 to 1.5 percent of all the claims are still in dispute. Under the payment schedule pending with the DOC, Porter County would have to keep up with current bills but would retain the right to dispute bills in question.

The issue now before the county council and the commissioners is to find the money to pay the debt.

Council President Robert Poparad, D-1st, suggested a combination of the county’s share of the casino funds and the commissioner-controlled cable franchise fees, while North Porter County Commissioner John Evans suggested approaching school corporations on the grounds that schools receive state funding for the juveniles if they were enrolled at the start of the school year before being committed to DOC facilities.

Commissioner President Robert Harper said it’s clear that the county has to pay the debt, but he called for a work session between the commissioners and council to plan for the repayment. He said he has a real problem with the council making large-scale decisions without any long-term planning.

“When are we going to sit down and plan this all out?” he said.

At his suggestion, the council agreed to call a joint committee meeting.

In the meantime, council member Dan Whitten, D-at large, said he will contact Marion County to see how it is handling the repayment issue. As noted by council attorney David Hollenbeck, Marion County owes about $50 million, or the lion’s share of the $85 million owed statewide. Hollenbeck is also to prepare an agreement stipulating Porter County’s repayment schedule.

Judge Harper urged that the issue gets resolved soon. “I would not screw with this too long,” she said.

The judge also said that some of the juvenile bills turned out to be higher than earlier estimated, in some cases by as much as 25 percent, because of juveniles who were released, violated the terms of their parole, then recommitted without Porter County’s knowledge. Council member Al Steele, R-3rd, asked if the state would commit to notifying Porter County in the future whenever a juvenile is recommitted.

Council member Jim Burge, R-at large, said he can understand why the bills didn’t get paid during the county’s financial crisis in the last few years, but noted that the debt has been accumulated for 25 years. Hollenbeck said the council was specifically directed by former judge Raymond Kickbush not to pay the bills because of the dispute over the bills’ accuracy.

Auditor Overtime

In a 6-1 vote, the council granted an additional appropriation for County Auditor Sandy Vuko to pay part-time staff overtime totaling $10,000. Only Steele voted no, voicing concerns that Vuko’s office is closed to the public in the mornings and that it is early in the year for her to be out of overtime funds.

But Vuko said her employees are working long hours to complete the tax work in order to get this year’s tax bills out on time. Some employees have accumulated 140 to 170 hours of overtime, she said. “I can’t give them the time off,” she said.

At one point when the debate turned a bit contentious, Whitten called on Poparad to demand a “modicum of professionalism.” Whitten also asked if things are happening in county government that weren’t foreseen at budget time. Vuko noted that she lost three employees due to the budget cutbacks but that her office is expected to do more work with less help.

Coming to Vuko’s aid was County Clerk Dale Brewer, who told the council that without the overtime, Vuko would need more full-time help, which would cost the county more in benefits. Also speaking in support was Evans, who said the auditor’s office is the backbone of county government. “She really needs the extra people,” he said. Poparad noted that if the auditor’s work isn’t done on time, the tax bills will be late once again this year.

Though the overtime funds were approved, Vuko had no luck winning a $3,000 raise for one of her mapping employees. The council was unanimous that such a request should be addressed at budget time.

Expo Expense

Another divided vote occurred on a request from Expo Center Manager Lonnie Steele for an additional $10,000 for event expenses. Both Al Steele and Whitten voted no, after they questioned why an additional appropriation, and not a transfer, was needed.

Lonnie Steele said that end-of-the-year events were more successful than in the past, but that also led to higher expenses. He also said the funding he’s requesting is part of the $160,000 in carry-over funds, all of which come from Expo’s own revenues.

Psychiatric Funds

The council unanimously granted Superior Court Judge William Alexa an additional appropriation of $10,000 for psychiatric services. Alexa said that the county courts have had their funding for psychiatric services cut or entirely eliminated in recent years, and that two cases pending in his court will eat up the $4,000 now approved in his budget.

Porter-Starke Services has provided the county courts the psychiatric services at a reduced cost of $125 per hour, compared to the typical fees ranging up to $450 an hour, Alexa said. By statute, the county is to provide two psychologists and one psychiatrist in cases requiring psychiatric help.

Hokanson on WPL

In another matter, the council unanimously reappointed Rick Hokanson to the Westchester Public Library board.

Posted 3/23/2005