Pulaski County’s 2022 budget was narrowly adopted by the county council Monday. The nearly $18.6 million budget passed by a vote of four-to-three, with Rudy DeSabatine, Tim Overmyer, and Mike Tiede opposing. Monday’s vote came after four special meetings, where council members ultimately trimmed the proposal by about $675,000.
Overmyer expressed his disappointment that the council didn’t make bigger changes. “Pulaski County faces a budget problem by continuing to run a deficit then dipping out of the General Fund if we need more funding,” he said. “If we want to continue to keep this county in business, we need to make some changes to keep the budget in check.”
The budget includes funding for a three-percent pay raise for county employees, but the idea of offsetting that with a reduction in benefits was ruled out. DeSabatine felt the council neglected the interests of the taxpayers and catered to the requests of department heads.
“I brought up the idea about possibly leasing the transfer station to save $250,000,” DeSabatine added. “Some people don’t like the idea. It was said again tonight, ‘I don’t like the idea.’ You just turn a deaf ear to the idea of let’s check into it, see if we can save any money.”
Meanwhile, DeSabatine’s proposal to reallocate the Aviation Fund’s remaining tax support and let the airport spend down its existing reserves for the coming year was narrowly voted down. However, the council unanimously approved a separate measure to direct more local income tax revenues to public safety at the expense of economic development without changing the overall rate.
Pulaski County’s 2022 budget now goes to the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance for final approval.
