Marshall County Council Makes Reductions to 2014 Budget

Posted on Author WKVI
 
 

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.

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Marshall County Council Holds Budget Talks with Department Heads

Posted on Author WKVI

 
 
The Marshall County Council sat down with department heads on Aug. 20 to hash out their budgets for 2014.

Auditor Penny Lukenbill stated that the negotiations went very well and the advertised budget should be approved at the council’s next meeting. It has been advertised twice.

The council reviewed the $8.985 million proposed budget last week, which reflects a 2.6 to 3 percent increase. The department heads explained all of their budget requests to the council members. Lukenbill commented that the council made very few initial cuts.

Marshall County Council Approves Requests for Personnel Replacements

Posted on Author WKVI

 
 
The Marshall County Council approved two requests from department heads to seek replacements in their divisions.

County Prosecutor David Holmes requested a replacement for a deputy prosecutor. He explained that one of the deputy prosecutors accepted a job in St. Joseph County and will be leaving the office at the end of August. He told the council he wanted to interview for a replacement deputy prosecutor right away and the council approved that request.

Sheriff Tom Chamberlin requested to seek a new head cook and a turnkey/dispatcher. Chamberlin told the council that both positions are full time and were recently vacated. The council approved the sheriff’s request and he is now able to accept applications and interview prospective employees for those two positions.

Marshall County Council to Hold Budget Hearings on Tuesday

Posted on Author WKVI

 
 
Marshall County Auditor Penny Lukenbill presented the proposed 2014 budget sheets to the county council this week.

The county will be reviewing the $8.985 million proposed budget, which reflects a 2.6 to three percent increase, with department heads on Tuesday, Aug. 20 and that could be whittled down by the time the discussions are over.

One budget that the council will be focusing on is the Jail CAGIT fund. The council will be watching the funding in order to feed the increasing amount of prisoners in the jail. Sheriff Tom Chamberlin just requested an additional appropriation for $80,000 to feed the inmates for the rest of the year. That appropriation was approved by the council this week.

Marshall Co. Council Approves Appropriation for Coroner, Drug Free Community

Posted on Author WKVI

 
 
The Marshall County Council approved an additional appropriation request by Coroner Bill Cleveanger explained that a jail death, industrial fatality, a drowning, traffic accidents and other issues have prompted the request for funds. He explained that these things are obviously unpredictable but are necessary in order to bring conclusion to a case as serious as a fatality.

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Marshall County Council Approves Add’l Appropriation of $80,000 for Prisoner Meals

Posted on Author WKVI

 
 
The Marshall County Jail situation is causing the Marshall County Council to plan differently for next year’s budget.

Sheriff Tom Chamberlin was before the council Monday morning to ask for $80,000 in additional appropriations for prisoner meals for the rest of the year. He commented that just over the weekend the jail saw over 200 inmates in the facility which is the most that has been incarcerated at one time since the jail was built in 2006. The bed capacity is 238.

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Marshall County Council Approves Emergency Fund Ordinance

Posted on Author WKVI

 
 
The Marshall County Council held a public hearing Monday morning on an ordinance permitting procurement of emergency funds in the event of an emergency.

The ordinance was brought forth by Emergency Management Agency Director Clyde Avery. In the case of an emergency and funds are needed, the ordinance allows the funds to be approved by just the president of the Marshall County Commissioners and the president of the Marshall County Council. A special meeting with all members of the governing bodies will not need to be called to approve these expenses.

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Marshall County Council Approves Appropriations

Posted on Author WKVI

 
 
The Marshall County Council members approved a $20,000 appropriation for the Marshall County Older Adult Services organization.

Jackie Wright, the director of Older Adult Services, requested the funds last month for this year only for the transportation program. Wright explained that a large share of their funding from INDOT was cut drastically this year due to the federal sequester. This shortfall will only affect 2013 as she expects the transportation bill to be back to full funding levels in 2014.

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Marshall County Council Tables Health Department Insurance Funding Request

Posted on Author WKVI

 
 
Wes Burden from the Marshall County Health Department appeared before the county council Monday morning to request that the health educator be paid health insurance through grant funding as her hours will go over the 28 hours per week requirement.

The health educator works hard in preparing paperwork for grants that are beneficial for the county health department which requires a lot of time. Burden explained that she works 20 hours a week in her regular duties as the health educator and to prepare the many grants takes more time out of her regular work days.

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Marshall County Director of Older Adult Services Requests Funding

Posted on Author WKVI
 
 

The Director of Older Adult Services approached the Marshall County Council this week requesting funds for the transportation program.

Jackie Wright explained that a large share of their funding from INDOT has been cut drastically this year which has to do with the federal sequester. This shortfall will only affect 2013 as she expects the transportation bill to be back to full funding levels in 2014. She appreciates the funding that is given from the county by the commissioners, but she is seeking additional funds to keep the transportation service open for the remainder of the year.

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Marshall County Council Approves Appropriations

Posted on Author WKVI

 
 
The Marshall County Council approved several appropriations during their meeting Monday morning.

Marshall County Sheriff’s Department Captain Dan Butt asked the commissioners for approximately $32,000 to be added to the prisoner meals line item in the sheriff’s budget. He asked the council to take some money out of the General Fund and the CAGIT fund to be used to fund this request and the council denied that. They suggested transferring approximately $30,000 into that line item for now which will be done within the sheriff’s budget. Captain Butt told the council that more money will be requested as they are about $82,000 short to fulfill the needs at the jail in terms of meals.

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Marshall County Council Makes Decision Concerning Part-Time Employee Hours

Posted on Author WKVI
 
 

The Marshall County Commission members and the council members met in a joint session Monday morning to discuss a personnel policy amendment concerning hours for part-time employees.

As explained by the county’s insurance representative, Tony Nyers, the Affordable Care Act requires that all businesses, including county government, offer insurance benefits for all employees that work a 30-hour work week on a six-month average. Those employees are now considered to be eligible for insurance benefits if they meet the requirements for insurance benefits.

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Marshall County Council Concerned Over Paying EMA Salary

Posted on Author WKVI

 
 
Following the Marshall County commissioners’ decision in March to pay the entirety of EMA Director Clyde Avery’s salary – roughly $40,000 – county council president Matt Hassel has expressed concerns over some possible side effects of that decision. The commissioners made the decision to cover the full cost of Avery’s salary, rather than allow half of it to be paid for through a FEMA grant, because the requirements for the grant have been steadily increasing over the last few years.

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Marshall County makes veterans service officer full time

Posted on Author WKVI

Marshall County now has a full-time veterans services officer. The county council approved the recommendation of the commissioners to make Pam Schweizer-Betz a full-time employee with benefits. The benefit package will cost well over $10,000, including health, life and dental insurance, long-term disability and retirement. Council President Matt Hassell noted that demand has been up for the past year, and hours have been increased to reflect it. He expects that demand to continue with two recent wars.

Marshall County Council to Adopt Budgets Today

Posted on Author WKVI

The Marshall County Council will meet today to adopt the Solid Waste, South West Lake Maxinkuckee Conservancy District and Argos Community School budgets. The council will also perform the non-binding review of unit budgets and adopt the 2013 county budgets.

The Argos Community School Corporation advertised a budget increase of $82,000 with a levy increase of 56 cents. School personnel have not received raises for the past three years. A public hearing was held with no comments made and the budget, Capital Projects Plan and Bus Replacement Fund will be approved in a meeting today.

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Marshall County Council Approves Appropriation Requests

Posted on Author WKVI

A number of additional appropriations were approved by the Marshall County Council at their recent meeting. One such appropriation was approved for the Highway Department, which requested an additional $250,000 to appropriate all of the county department budgets for vehicle maintenance supplies such as gasoline and diesel. According to Marshall County Auditor Penny Lukenbill, the department has agreements with Marshall-Starke Development Center and Older Adult Services to allow them to purchase gasoline from the highway department and reimburse them. The money that the organizations pay goes back into the general fund, so the department will occasionally request that the money be appropriated back into their budget so they can continue purchasing fuel.

A grant appropriation from the Sheriff’s Department was approved for $1500 to allow them to purchase a radar unit, and the Probation Department was approved for a $120,000 appropriation toward juvenile detention.

A resolution was also approved at the meeting to transfer appropriations from the two local 911 funds into the new statewide 911 fund, which was combined at the state level legislatively this year.

Statewide 911 Fund Implemented July 1

Posted on Author WKVI

One of the new requirements that began July 1 was the statewide 911 Fund that replaces E911 and Wireless 911 funds. The Marshall County Council discussed the change at their recent meeting.

The state will now collect $0.90 for all landline and cell phones which replaces the current Marshall County-established landline fee of $1.53 and the $0.50 fee on cell phones. By statute, the county is guaranteed a “Hold Harmless” amount of $500,368, which is the average revenue for the past three fiscal years.

Remaining balances and budgets will be transferred from the two existing funds, E911 and Wireless 911 funds, into the new combined fund.