Helping the Pulaski County Council understand how to use the various funds it oversees is the goal of a new tool developed by the Community Development Commission.
During this month’s regular council meeting, CDC Executive Director Nathan Origer presented members with a quick-reference list of funds and their permitted uses, created with the help of the CDC’s summer intern.
“I gave him all of the Indiana Code citations for every fund that Pulaski County has, and he just pulled, copy-paste, and then I went and cleaned up the document, and this is it. This is so that when it’s time to look at a project – and the numbers I have are not real-time fund balances; those you can get from the auditor, as needed – but everything that you can and can’t use fund x or y or z for in county government,” explained Origer.
The project stemmed from council members’ decision to use County Economic Development Income Tax funds to pay for the replacement of the courthouse elevator, rather than exploring other options.
“Depending on what project it is, what you’re funding, the county has countless funds available. Some of them, like the General Fund, are very broad in their eligible uses. Some of them are really restricted, and some are somewhere in between.”
Origer hoped the new document will help council members be better informed when they have to make quick decisions in the future.
