The Knox City Council members were presented with the 2015 budget and the budget calendar during Tuesday night’s meeting.
Clerk-Treasurer Jeff Houston explained that the budget process has been pushed back a bit due to a pilot program with which the county is involved.
The Starke County Council members had a chance to go over the 2014 budget during their special meeting Friday night.
Council President Dave Pearman noted that it’s a very tough time of the year and the budget process has been very lengthy. The council examined the budget further on Friday night.
“We really just needed to tighten some things up,” explained Pearman. “We’ve really had a lot of difficulty every year – dealing with a frozen levy, dealing with a very small budget for such a large amount of inhabitants with 23,000 people in our county. We have a smaller budget than many counties that have half that many residents.”
The Marshall County Council went through line items in the county’s budget on Monday morning and cut expenses where they thought necessary. Most of the cuts were discussed with department heads on Aug. 20 during an all-day budget hearing.
Approximately $37,000 was cut from the Marshall County Commissioners’ budget while $58,000 was transferred out of several line items in the sheriff’s budget to the certified shares budget. $20,000 was cut from county corrections’ budget as a jail nurse is no longer needed with the contract the county has signed with Quality Correctional Care. The prosecutor’s office was cut just over $40,000.
Knox Clerk-Treasurer, Jeff Houston, told the Knox City Council that he had received a budget order from the Department of Local Government Finance. The City is going to be forced to cut $165,000. Between the Clerk, Mayor and department heads, Houston said the cuts have been made.
The West Central School Board discussed next year’s school budget during their recent meeting. Superintendent Charles Mellon said that the Board got to see all of the paperwork. Continue reading
The North Judson Town Board members approved the 2012 budget this week. All funds, including the general fund, local roads and streets, motor vehicle highway, parks, cumulative capital improvements, and cumulative capital development funds total $785,360.
West Central School Superintendent, Charles Mellon, said the wind turbine project is moving along. The cement has been poured and needs to cure for 30 days before above ground construction can begin. The School Board hopes the project is complete by the end of November.
The budget for the year of 2012 was approved by the Culver Community School Board this week, with one disappointing detail: a loss of $558,000 in funding compared to last year. According to Superintendent Brad Schuldt, this decrease in funding is due to a number of reasons.
The restoration grant from the state has been reduced to $0, as well as the small schools grant. In addition, the change in the formula used to calculate funding for schools was changed at the state level, and declining enrollment due to a variety of reasons also played a part in the decline of funding.
The Starke County Council worked on the 2012 budget all day Wednesday.
“This year, what we felt was a prudent thing to do, is to freeze the budget at the 2011 level,” said Starke County Council President, Mark Smith.
Smith said no raises were given county employees for 2012.
“I always hate it when it comes down to this because folks will say, ‘Don’t you know that those people deserve a raise?’ I absolutely believe that they deserve a raise. However, if we ‘froze’ the budget but allowed a raise, what I’m telling the taxpayers is ‘You’re going to get just a little less services but we’ve decided to give a raise anyway’. At some point, there’s got to be a little bit of a leveling out there, a little bit of fiscal responsibility, to look at the big picture.”
The Knox City Council members, on the recommendation of Clerk-Treasurer Jeff Houston, passed the budget during their meeting this week. The budget is for $3.1 million and includes a 2% across-the-board raise for employees and officials.
Houston gave the Council some advice before the vote.
“At this point, once it’s been advertised, you guys can vote. Either accept it the way it is or you can cut, but you can not add anything to the budget at this point. You can’t go above what’s been advertised,” said Houston.
In a special session with Knox City Clerk-Treasurer, Jeff Houston on Tuesday evening, the Council walked through the completed budget that will soon be submitted to the Department of Local Government Finance. Presented was a budget that totals $3,112,071.
“At our next meeting, on the 23rd of August, we’re going to have our Public Hearing at 7:00 when we have our Council meeting,” said Houston when explaining the next step in the budget process. “The budget is also advertised and we’ll have our third reading of the salary ordinance.”
The Knox Community School Board approved administrator contract rollovers and a one percent pay increase for all classified and administrative staff for 2011. The pay increase is the same the teachers received for 2011.
The Board also approved the advertisement of the budget for 2012. The budget will be printed for all funds including the General Fund, Debt Service Fund, Retirement/Severance Bond Debt Service, Capital Projects Fund, School Transportation and the Bus Replacement Fund. Total of all funds to be advertised equals $24,197,043.
The North Judson Town Board approved a request to send the 2012 budget out for advertising. The State allowed the Board to increase the General Fund by 2.9% and that is what the Board will be advertising for this year’s budget. The Board is seeking $618,610 for the General Fund.
After the budget is advertised, the budget will be sent to the Auditor’s office and the County Council will review and approve or reject the budget in October. If all is approved, the Board will adopt the budget in October.
It’s budget time in the Knox City Clerk’s office. Clerk-Treasurer Jeff Houston told the Knox City Council members last week that the annual audit is being done now, and he is working on the 2012 budget.
Houston said this seems to be a more in-depth audit as the City received over $500,000 in federal grants during the past year.
On July 6th, Houston will meet with the Department of Local Government Finance, and he thought the Council might want to consider a work session before the next Council meeting on July 12th.
Emotions were running high at the Culver Community School Board meeting this week, as supporters of the Monterey Elementary school vehemently defended the school in the face of possible closure. This issue was discussed because of a need to reduce expenses in order to meet budget cuts from the state level in the amount of $855,928 over two years.
The Culver Community School Corporation has a number of options to explore in order to meet this new budget. Some of the options mentioned included increasing revenue through a referenda, in which the school tax rate would be raised $0.11 per $100; the use of the Rainy Day Fund, which has a current balance of $980,000; and decreasing expenses through budget reductions, such as closing Monterey or cutting positions.
The North Judson Town Board received its 2011 budget order from the State. The Board had to cut $5,242 out of the Town’s Cumulative Capital Improvement Fund. The Town requested $9,000 and the State approved $3,758. The Fund is used for street repair and maintenance. The Town’s approved budget total is $767,964 for 2011.
The Knox City Council learned that the budget order came back from the State and the Council will need to cut $71,932 from the 2011 budget. During the Council meeting Tuesday night, Clerk-Treasurer, Jeff Houston, recommended that the Council cut the purchase of a new backhoe that was put in the budget for 2011. That budgeted item was approximately $72,000 and the Council unanimously approved Houston’s recommendation. Houston added that the budget is at the “bare bones” and spending will be tight in 2011. Election costs had to be added to the 2011 budget as well.
Retailers are hoping for big crowds this weekend. However, some experts say that significantly fewer people will participate in the post – Thanksgiving shopping frenzy.
Consumer Reports senior editor and resident shopping expert, Tod Marks, thinks that blockbuster sales are so common, especially this year, that they’ve become almost ho-hum. Traditionally, some of the best markdowns, especially on expensive TVs, toys and clothing, take place closer to Christmas.
Some people will avoid the lines and shop online. Some retailers will post their Black Friday sales Thanksgiving night and early Friday morning.
Make sure you make a list and spend within your budget. Without a list and not knowing your budget, you could easily spend more than you can afford.
