By Paul Minnis, The Republic
pminnis@therepublic.com
A financial consultant has recommended that Bartholomew County Council cut another 17 percent ($3.8 million) from a proposed 2010 budget it already considers lean.
Dan Eggermann, of Governmental Consulting Services, presented the council with a picture of its financial situation during the last day of 2010 budget hearings Wednesday.
He said the Bartholomew County government can expect to finish 2010 with $1.2 million in its General Fund, if it passes the draft $22 million General Fund budget without changes.
He said the council should cut at least $1.8 million from the budget to carry a $3 million balance into 2011, but he recommended it cut $3.8 million to carry over $5 million.
He said the council should be sure it has plenty of money until it receives its first tax draw of 2011.
Though the county collects property taxes for all governments within its borders, including Columbus and the townships, it still must wait like every other unit to spend any money.
The first allocation usually comes in the spring, shortly after the first installment of property tax payments comes due.
Eggermann said having a reasonable amount of money available to get through lean times is far better than going to Indiana Bond Bank for a loan and paying it back with interest.
The surplus scenarios do not include Economic Development Income Tax revenues, which people will start paying in October and will bring an anticipated $1.9 million to the county in 2010.
Eggermann said the county could apply some of its share of EDIT to the General Fund, but only if it makes that part of its plan.
State law dictates that the County Council and any other governmental entity that gets a cut must decide by March 31 how to use EDIT.
Roads and other economic development projects also are being considered for portions of that money.
"We're not in as bad of financial straits as some of us feared," County Council President Keith Sells said at the meeting.
Eggermann said that while other governments are struggling to balance their budgets, Bartholomew County owes its overall financial health partly to $1.4 million in inheritance taxes that resulted from Columbus philanthropist Xenia Miller's death.
Also Wednesday, Sheriff Mark Gorbett asked the council for $160,000 in 2010 to buy nine patrol cars, which would replace old patrol cars that have at least 100,000 miles each.
The council had deeply cut the line item last year to meet costcutting goals in the 2009 budget.
Gorbett, who was granted enough money to replace six cars with at least 100,000 miles that year, said he needs to replace the remaining nine for safety.
He cited two instances that high-mileage cars experienced problems: once when a deputy's engine died and another when a car's throttle became stuck.
Officers count on their cars to respond to emergency calls. Taking risks with breakdowns is dangerous for the officers, Gorbett said, not to mention a community collectively placing more calls for service each year.
Gorbett said his department has been frugal with money at a time that calls for service are rising and jailers have had to tend to a new jail addition.
He said the overall budget, which includes the sheriff's department and jail, went up just $2,500 in the last three years.