Marshall County Sheriff Matt Hassel came before the County Council to propose the possibility of some changes in what funds employees are paid from in coming budgets.
Hassel gave the history that two years ago, the 911 budget had gone dry, and at that time, nine full-time employees were being paid out of that fund. To adjust, the county moved the salary for four of those employees to the LIT fund since the 911 fund could support the remaining five employees.
He said that since then, the 911 fund had built up a balance of nearly $900,000. His concern now is that if the state of Indiana sees the surplus, it will lower the level of funding that they currently supply.
He proposed to move two turnkey dispatchers out of the LIT fund and back into 911 which would take $158,000.
The change would only need to be made in the salary ordinance as to how those employees were paid.
Council President Tim Harman pointed out that the additional salaries still left a large balance in the fund of over $400,000 and said that if the concern was the state cutting funds, he might want to get “…more aggressive.”
Hassel stated that several other items had been moved into the LIT fund, i.e. a 911 equipment lease for $90,000, and the Council might want to consider moving that back into 911.
Hassel said that the fee paid by the state 911 Board to local law enforcement for the taxes collected on phones around the state ($42,281 a month) has not been raised in his time as Sheriff.
Hassel said that the county has never spent the entire 911 amount.
The Council approved the move.
