County council continues to move forward with income tax
The Pulaski County Council continues to move forward with the implementing of the Local Option Income Tax, amidst great debate.
Council president Jay Sullivan said the need for the Local Option Income Tax (LOIT) outweighs the objections, during a regular council meeting on Monday.
Auditor Shelia Garling said she has heard several complaints about the tax because the county taxes are already the highest in the state. There is also much disapproval about a proposed wage increase for the sheriff’s office. At this time, according to Garling, no other department is receiving an increase.
Councilwoman Linda Powers said it’s a misconception regarding the wage increase. A committee is currently looking at implementing a wage matrix for all county departments.
Garling said there may be funding for the wage increase for the sheriff’s office in 2016. The problem is that the same funding won’t be available in 2017.
“The matrix system from what I have seen, I think it is a very good idea. I am not opposed to it, but I am opposed to anybody getting an increase or picking out a few when we still have to cut some 300-some thousand dollars,” Garling said.
During a joint session on Sept. 2, the council approved to move about $400,000 from the Rainy Day Fund to cover the cuts.
Garling said although the council decided to move the funding, the county still needs to cut $400,000. She said the funding from the Rainy Day Fund can be appropriated to cover the $400,000 loss but the cut must be done first.
“I don’t know that we can cut another $400,000 out of the budget and keep everything going like it needs to be going,” Sullivan said.
It was suggested that the $400,000 for liability insurance be moved to the Rainy Day Fund. That will allow for a $400,000 cut to the general fund budget. Garling said she would prepare an additional appropriation for December.
Sullivan said the county is facing an even bigger problem with the lack of funding for the county airport. The Department of Local Government Finance (DLGF) is requiring the county to cut $36,438 from the budget. After the numbers were calculated it was discovered that the cut doesn’t leave enough for the airport manager’s salary, Social Security and the Public Employee’s Retirement Fund (PERF). Garling said the budget has to be $27,676.
“It looks like if we pay his PERF and salary for the guy that runs the place, then we don’t have any money for anything else,” Sullivan said.
As the budget was cut, the council cut everything including utilities, supplies, telephone and fuel. The salary of the airport manager was also cut by $300.
The airport cannot be sold and it cannot be closed.
Sullivan questioned if the county would be receiving the funding from the income tax in 2016. Garling said if the tax ordinance is approved before Oct. 31, it will become effective on Jan. 1, 2016. It appears the county would begin receiving funds in 2016. County municipalities that are incorporated will also receive some LOIT funding.
Concerns were also voiced about the sheriff’s office receiving a raise, while there is $2.2 million being cut from the budget. Concerns were also voiced in regards to the sheriff’s office receiving a raise but not another department.
Powers said the county had not approved a wage increase but a committee has been working to implement a wage matrix. The matrix would be used for all county departments.
“In reality there is not a whole lot of pay raises,” Powers said. “We are trying to come up with something that is consistent and that rewards people for being here for a long period of time.”
With the wage matrix, those who have worked for the county the longest would receive a raise. Those who are newly hired would not. It would put a wage gap between new employees and those who have seniority.
“Wages just keep getting higher and higher because we don’t establish an entry-level wage,” said councilman Doug Roth. He used the example that if someone quits and their wage is $20, the next person who is hired for that same position earns $20. “We can’t keep doing that. We keep bringing employees in at $17 bucks an hour, yeah, we are going to have to start losing employees.”
Powers and Roth said nothing has been approved regarding the wage matrix.
Pulaski County Sheriff Jeff Richwine said the sheriff’s office generates funding while other departments don’t. That funding can be transferred. Richwine said he represents the sheriff’s office and he wants to see the matrix implemented.
He suggested that the sheriff’s office could be used as an example to see if the matrix works.
“I understand the argument that it is not fair but that’s not fair to us. Our jobs are different. Their jobs are totally different than anybody that sits over here in the courthouse. It’s different from the county highway guys,” Richwine said.
He said his department has tried to answer every question that the council had and they found funding in the budget to make the matrix happen.
“I just hope it doesn’t disappear on us, cause there’s people over there on the department that worked very hard to answer all those questions,” Richwine said.
The county will adopt the budget in October. Any changes need to be made before the meeting and in time for Garling to change the budgets.
A joint session to discuss the wage matrix is scheduled for Sept. 30 at 7:30 p.m.
The non-binding resolutions regarding the township budgets and school corporation budgets were approved.
In other business:
• Pulaski County Community Development Commission Executive Director Nathan Origer requested the approval of a preliminary resolution for an economic revitalization area (ERA) regarding property in the industrial park owned by R&S Welding. Origer said the ERA status makes the property eligible for a tax abatement. The request was approved. A public hearing will be scheduled in regards to the ERA resolution.
• Origer suggested that the county take a hard look at the county taxes. He said the income tax may not be the best answer but possibly “shifting some of the burden off of income and onto property.” He said land and buildings don’t move but people do. “If you raise the taxes even more on income, you are only going to encourage more people to leave the county thus lowering your tax base.” Sullivan didn’t completely agree with Origer but appreciated the information.
• Superior Court Judge Patrick Blankenship requested to purchase a new computer and computer software for $1,236.98. Funding for the computer doesn’t come from the county general fund. The council approved to advertise the additional appropriation.
• An additional appropriation of $5,000 for the superior court public defender services fund was approved. Funding for the public defender services is obtained through fees and not the county general fund.
• Circuit Court Judge Michael Shurn’s request to transfer $5,000 for civil pauper counsel fees and $138.91 for supplies were approved. He made the transfer request to cover the costs until the end of the year.
• A resolution to authorize the acceptance of credit cards and establishing procedures for credit card acceptance for collecting payments at the recycling/transfer station was approved. Recycling/transfer station manager Brad Bonnell said there is quite a bit of interest in paying with credit cards, even though there is an additional fee to the costumer.
• Bonnell said as the wage matrix committee continues to see if it is feasible in the 2016 budget, he requested that they take into consideration the special certifications that some of the employees at the recycling/transfer center have, such as a CDL. He would like to be able to offer skilled employees a higher wage. Powers said the certifications have been taken into consideration and they are trying to figure it out.
• Discussion was held regarding the newly created information technology department. The county recently hired a full-time information technology employee, R.B. Walters. There was a question if that department should have a stand-alone budget. It was determined that his salary is funded by the commissioners’ fund and any overtime is funded from the sheriff’s office County Adjusted Gross Income Tax funding. Motions to transfer funding in the commissioners’ budget and in the sheriff’s office budget were approved. It was determined that any supplies and equipment needed for the department, $3,148, will come from the maintenance fund and the Cumulative Capital Fund.
• Garling requested that the council approve a change to the salary and wage ordinance. She said there was a miscalculation by a penny in regards to the information technology director’s salary that must be reflected correctly in the ordinance. The change was approved.
• A joint session has been set for Sept. 30 at 6 p.m. to hear from architects regarding proposed renovations that could be made to the county buildings.
• Several transfers were approved. Those included $200 for health department official records, $400 for probation department part-time interpreter expenses, $155 for extension office service and maintenance contracts, $4,767 for commissioners’ schools, seminars and meetings, $6,573 for sheriff’s office cook wages, $150 for treasurer office machines, and $2,300 for auditor part-time help.
• Garling presented monthly financial statements to the council. According to her calculations, the county has received $4,230,355.26 in revenues this year but spent $5,001,101. She warned the council that the county would be in the red by $770,745.74. There was a balance of $1.6 million carried over from last year that has kept the county in the black. The county will receive additional distributions in December.
• Garling requested a change to the mileage reimbursement amount. The state recently changed the reimbursement amount from 44 cents to 40 cents. In the past, the county has followed the state reimbursement amount. A resolution reflecting that change was approved.
• Because the county has made several cuts to the 2016 budget, some organizations will be receiving less funding. Those organizations don’t typically sit in on the budget hearings, so they may not have an idea that funding has been cut. Garling suggested that a letter be written to those organizations regarding the cuts. Letters have not been sent in the past. The council agreed that a letter would be a good idea.
• Garling asked the board how they feel about the $400 transfer amount. If a department head wants to transfer more than $400 they must bring it to the attention of the council for approval. Garling said she doesn’t like that transfers less than $400 are being made without an explanation of what the transfer is for. The council agreed that the limit could remain the same, but the council wants an explanation for the smaller transfers.
• Garling asked if the council would like to continue with a policy to charge a garnishment fee. Council members said they believed the county would follow Indiana Code and that they gave their approval during the last meeting. It was decided that the issue would be tabled until the joint session on Sept. 30.
• Minutes from the joint session and regular session on Aug. 10 and from the budget meetings on Aug. 17 and 18 were approved. Minutes from the Sept. 2 joint session were also approved but were amended. Powers abstained from two votes that were made during that meeting. The minutes only reflected one.