Lower state funding distributions are causing challenges for the Marshall County Council, as it works on its 2019 budget. Council members found themselves trying to cut about $1.3 million from the highway department’s budget proposal Monday.
Despite last year’s gas tax increase, the amount of money making it to the County Highway Department is dropping sharply, according to County Commissioner Kevin Overmyer. “On our September 2017 distribution and our September 2018 distribution, it was like $170,000 less,” he told council members. “I don’t understand why we are getting less money. I mean, we’re going backwards to almost, probably, a 2013 budget.” Overmyer told council members that he has people looking into the issue.
The county’s 911 Fund is having a similar issue. To balance the budget, council members considered moving salaries and other various expenses into the county’s General Fund.
But Sheriff Matt Hassel was concerned that doing that would take away the incentive for the state to fix the shortfall. “My suggestion is leave it like it is, and when we start getting low next year, I’ll come in and ask for an additional out of the LIT and we’ll do a reduction of staff from the 911,” he said. “But I don’t want to send the message that we fixed the problem. We lost two employees and the state’s happy with that, then they’ll probably just cut us more because we figured out how to get it.”
Hassel felt that leaving the deficit in the proposed 911 budget would more clearly illustrate the problem to state officials. “When you turn your budget report in, I’m interested to see if the state finance will come back and say, ‘Well, no, this isn’t going to work,’” he said. “Then I want you to tell them, ‘Well then you tell 911 to give us more funding.’”
Meanwhile, council members were able to bring down the requested budget for employee health insurance, to reflect the actual rate that the insurance company agreed to. They also decided to move the county’s contribution toward the proposed multi-purpose building at the Marshall County Fairgrounds to the Rainy Day Fund, saving $230,000 in the commissioners’ budget.
Additionally, the county council was able to reduce the planned expenditures out of the Cumulative Capital Development Fund by going with a five-year lease for a new chipper box and distributor truck for the Highway Department, rather than buying them outright.
The Marshall County Council will continue working on its 2019 budget proposal this afternoon. The work session starts at 1:00 in the Marshall County Building.
