The Starke County Council members discussed requests from the Starke County EMS Department and the Starke County Sheriff’s Department for additional staff members in 2019.
The Starke County Commissioners previously approved three additional full-time paramedics and three additional full-time EMTs for the EMS Department. It came before the council members Monday night where Clerk Mary Lynn Ritchie outlined how the salaries would work and explained how much money the department would save on overtime costs. She said overtime is what is currently killing their budget and they anticipate asking for an additional appropriation soon to help keep that fund solvent through the rest of the year.
The council members agreed that the additional full-time paramedics and EMTs would save the county in the long-run and approved the request.
Starke County Sheriff Bill Dulin previously went before the commissioners to request one additional jailer and one additional patrolman for 2019 and it met their approval. The pay for both positions would be paid for out of the Therapeutic Community Fund. Since the commissioners approved the recommendation, the council followed suit and approved the additional positions.
In addition, the sheriff and Office Manager Pam McDonald presented a more detailed funding outlook and what changes are anticipated in the sheriff’s budget in 2019 which was well received by all of the council members and the commissioners.
