Starke County Officials Appoint Committee to Study Wheel Tax

Posted on Author WKVI
 
 

Starke County Council members want more information about proposed wheel tax rates, types of vehicles that would be taxed and how any funds generated would be used for road improvements before making any decision about implementing such a tax. County Highway Superintendent Rik Ritzler will chair a committee comprised of council members Marvin McLaughlin, Freddie Baker and Bob Sims and Commissioner Kathy Norem. After they discuss the details, a public input meeting will be scheduled to further explain the process. Ritzler has streamlined the highway department’s operations since taking over but says efficiency can only go so far. “Our limiting factor is the oil and stone that we use to improve roads. We have a certain amount of funding sources, we used them all. The only way of increasing is a user tax that is available to us, a user fee. 47 of the 92 counties in Indiana have it. Of the counties that don’t have it, many have an additional source of funding that’s not available to us, and that’s riverboat gambling money. We are in the bottom fifth of road conditions in the state,” Ritzler told the council. Continue reading →

Starke County Council, Commissioners to Meet Tonight

Posted on Author WKVI
 
 

The Starke County Council and the Starke County Commissioners will meet tonight.

The Starke County Council will meet at 5:30 p.m. where they will hear from Dennis Estok from the planning commission with an appropriation request of the County Economic Development Income Tax (CEDIT) fund and Starke County Economic Development Foundation Director will have a CEDIT appropriation request. The council members will discuss the creation of a park board, a wheel tax overview, and an EMS update.

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Starke Council Receives Update on Hospital’s Capital Expenditures

Posted on Author WKVI

Craig Felty
Craig Felty
The recently named president of IU Health Starke Hospital presented the county council this week with the hospital’s fourth quarter report for capital dollars spent at the hospital. Craig Felty told the council that the hospital suffered from the loss of the hospital’s oldest generator, and as a result, they had no choice but to put in a new one. He said other expenses included finishing the work on the hospital’s electric system, fireproofing for firewalls throughout the facility and the installation of fire stops.

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Starke Council Approves Change to Innkeeper’s Tax

Posted on Author WKVI

 
 
The Starke County Council approved a change to the county’s ordinance regarding the innkeeper’s tax – a tax on the rental of rooms and accommodations, for periods less than 30 days, in addition to the state sales tax. Deb Mix with the Starke County Convention and Visitors Commission approached the council to discuss the tax, and according to county attorney Martin Lucas, the innkeeper’s tax is covered by Indiana Code and controlled by the fiscal body.

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Starke Council Approves Appropriation Requests

Posted on Author WKVI

Charles Weaver
Charles Weaver
The Starke County Council approved a number of appropriation requests at their meeting Monday night, including a request from Charles Weaver, executive director of the Starke County Economic Development Foundation. Weaver approached the council and requested an appropriation of $1,035,000 to fund a number of county projects. The commissioners gave the request their approval, and the council approved a motion to appropriate the funds.

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Starke Council, Commissioners to Meet Tonight With Full Agenda

Posted on Author WKVI

 
 
The Starke County Council and commissioners will meet tonight with a full slate of discussions in their monthly joint meeting. The Starke County Council will meet at 5:30 p.m. starting with a presentation from Marshall-Starke Services, the first quarter capital expenditure report from IU Health Starke Hospital, and a resolution to create a loan to the county general fund for a cash flow issue.

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Government, School Board Meetings Rescheduled

Posted on Author WKVI
 
 

The weather on Monday caused the postponement of several government and school board meetings. Many of those have been rescheduled.

The Starke County Board of Commissioners will meet Thursday morning at 9 a.m. in the Starke County annex building. EMA Director Ted Bombagetti will have an update for the commissioners, updates will be given on the proposed sale of property in Parkview Heights to the city of Knox, plus a report on landfill monitoring results. Commissioner Kent Danford will provide a report on the meeting of the Knox planning commission and permit fees. The automatic renewal of Kone Elevator’s service contract and a proposed amended agreement from Lawson-Fisher regarding the County Road 300 East and State Road 8 project are also on the agenda for this meeting.

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Starke Council, Commissioners Make Appointments, Reorganize

Posted on Author WKVI

 
 
In their first meetings of the new year, the Starke County Council and the county commissioners reorganized their boards and made their necessary appointments to various boards and committees. The Starke County Commissioners reorganized, electing Jennifer Davis, the lone Democrat, as the president and Kent Danford as vice-president. Kathy Norem, previously the president, will now act as secretary. For the council, no changes were made; Dave Pearman will remain president with Mitch Semans as vice-president. Martin Lucas will serve as attorney to both the commissioners and the council.

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Starke Council Approves Transfer for Prosecutor’s Office

Posted on Author WKVI

David Pearman
David Pearman
The Starke County Council last night held a special meeting to take care of some end-of-year business and discussed a necessary transfer for the prosecutor’s office to ensure that none of their budget items are in the negative come the new year. Council President Dave Pearman told the council that the prosecutor’s office budget was negative $9381, and in the past, the council has approved a transfer from the pretrial diversion fund to cover the deficit.

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Starke County Council Reluctantly Accepts Budget Cuts

Posted on Author WKVI

David Pearman
David Pearman
Officials with the State Board of Accounts have significantly slashed the budget submitted by Starke County officials earlier this year.

“I really felt like you guys all did a really great job in getting together and preparing a budget that I thought was very slim. We have a very slim levy in Starke County, and personally I was very disappointed in the state, but the state came back and said we have to shave $465,000 off our budget,” Pearman said.

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Starke County Officials Looking to Fill Nominated Positions

Posted on Author WKVI
Starke County Commissioner Kathy Norem
Starke County Commissioner Kathy Norem

The Starke County Council and Commissioners are looking for local residents who want to serve as appointees on various boards and commissions in 2014.

“The board of commissioners and the county council reorganize, and part of that reorganization includes appointments to various boards. We do try to advertise those. We do try to solicit extra folks out in the community to participate on these boards. We’re looking for good, qualified people,” Norem said.

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Starke County Commissioners Approve New Ambulance Purchase

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Starke County EMS will soon have a new ambulance. The county commissioners last night approved the purchase of a 2013 G-4500 Diesel from Fire Services, Inc. for $113,250. That cost includes equipment and delivery. Money for the purchase is coming from the County Adjusted Gross Income Tax, or CAGIT, Fund. Decals for the rig are not included in the price, but the commissioners allocated an additional $2,000 for those. The ambulance was a demo model used at trade shows and other types of industry events to showcase available options. Fire Services, Inc. was one of two companies that submitted prices. The council and commissioners agreed that Fire Services, Inc. offered the county a better deal.

Starke Council, Commissioners to Meet Tonight

Posted on Author WKVI

EMS Director Paul Mathewson
EMS Director Paul Mathewson
The Starke County Commissioners will meet this evening to discuss the possible purchase of an ambulance for the county EMS department. Director Paul Mathewson and Mary Lynn Ritchie approached the commissioners at their previous meeting to present the information, and Mathewson presented the ambulance quotes to County Attorney Marty Lucas for his review.

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Starke County Council Weighs Ambulance Options

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Members of the Starke County Council are considering their ambulance purchase options and may vote next month to buy a new vehicle for the county EMS. Last year they put $60,000 earmarked for the purchase of a new ambulance into the rainy day fund. A super-majority is required in order to authorize that money to be spent. It would only cover part of the cost for a replacement rig, as diesel trucks range in price from $80,000 for a new chassis with a refurbished box mounted on it to $150,000 for a completely new truck. Council President Dave Pearman says the crush specifications on the boxes change each year, so the savings could place the county in a precarious position should a refurbished truck ever be involved in a wreck. A third option is to buy a new unit with less than a couple thousand miles from a vendor that has offered the county a favorable price on such a vehicle. Based on the quote from Fire Service, Pearman says the county could get a truck that is essentially new for $108,000. Many of their vehicles are used at trade shows and elsewhere as demonstrator models. Pearman presented the three options to the council, and members opted to take them under advisement and make a decision later.

Starke County Council Moves Money to Sheriff’s Pension Fund

Posted on Author WKVI

David Pearman
David Pearman
The Starke County Sheriff’s Pension Fund is funded at a historically high level thanks to action earlier this week by the county council. Members voted unanimously to move $65,890.98 from the County Adjusted Gross Income Tax fund into the pension line item. Auditor Kay Chaffins explained that the state Department of Local Government Finance does not want the CAGIT money to go into the county general fund this year. Council President Dave Pearman says the transfer is consistent with the overall vision for the pension fund.

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Starke County Council Approves Transfer for Autopsy Funds

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The four forensic autopsies required by law this year in Starke County have put a pinch on the county coroner’s budget. Last Friday’s death of a three-week old infant required a more in-depth determination of the cause. It’s the second forensic autopsy performed this year on an infant, according to Starke County Coroner Kris Rannells. The county also conducted forensic autopsies on the pilot of a small plane who was killed when his experimental aircraft crash-landed at the Starke County Airport in July and on the victim of a February domestic homicide. Rannells says these more extensive procedures ate up more than $10,000 of his total $13,000 autopsy budget for the year. Council members approved total transfers of $4,133 into his budget with the understanding that additional funds may still be needed if more procedures are required between now and the end of the year. County officials also plan to meet informally with Rannells and other former coroners to talk about budget planning for the office.

 

Starke County Council Signs Ordinance Setting Next Sheriff’s Salary

Posted on Author WKVI

Starke County’s next sheriff will earn an annual base salary of $87,500, which will be paid from the county general fund. State law requires the sheriff to earn at least 60-percent of the prosecuting attorney’s salary, which is set by statute. The new salary takes effect Jan. 1, 2015, which will be the first day of the new sheriff’s term. Incumbent Oscar Cowen can’t seek reelection due to term limits. In addition to the base salary, the new sheriff will also get money from tax warrants.

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Starke County Council Approves Funds Transfer to Feed Inmates

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The Starke County Council approved a transfer of $15,000 to cover the cost of feeding inmates in the county jail through the end of the year. Matron Chris Smith says the county provides no-frills meals that are compliant with the state’s nutritional guidelines at a cost of 92-cents per-inmate, per-day. Breakfast is oatmeal or cereal and toast, and lunch is either a peanut butter and jelly or a lunchmeat sandwich. Sheriff’s department officials say the shortfall is closer to $10,000, but they’re asking for extra money just in case. Anything they don’t use will go back into the county’s rainy day fund at the end of the year. They add the cost of inmate meals is comparable with that of surrounding counties. Additionally the inmates like the food, which in turn means fewer fights and complaints.