By HOLLY GASKILL
Wells County Council members are faced with a unique opportunity in budgeting for 2025 — an excess.
According to Auditor Lisa McCormick, the county has roughly $800,000 over what has been required from department budgets. Council President Seth Whicker attributed this partially to a year of favorable investments but said he doesn’t want to bank on this being a new normal.
The council members scheduled six hours of appointments with department leaders on Monday to discuss the various increases and requests put in their budget proposals. In previous years, the council had to determine where to trim these proposals to maintain the budget — and Whicker said he hopes to maintain a similar disposition.
“We still got to go through these budgets … and still do what we normally do, to be fiscally conservative like we are,” Whicker said. “But there’s not that same high pressure.”
Some notable topics and requests for the county budget are detailed below.
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Council hesitant to
approve Flock cameras
After roughly eight months of trial use, Sheriff Scott Holliday endorsed license plate reading cameras for continued use within the county. The software subscription costs $18,900.
Holliday purchased six Flock Safety cameras earlier this year, which were placed to read license plates entering the county at State Roads 1, 124 and 224. The cameras register vehicles’ characteristics and recognize plate numbers reported as stolen or registered to an individual with a warrant for their arrest. Since January, the Wells County cameras have registered over 1.7 million license plates and helped in making 20 arrests, recovering three stolen vehicles, and locating one missing person.
However, Holliday was criticized by some council members for using commissary funds from the Wells County Jail to purchase the cameras. By doing so, Holliday did not require the council’s approval.
Holliday previously stated that he did not want to purchase the cameras using taxpayer funds unless he was sure it was a resource the department needed.
“So if you go out and get 10 more cameras that you didn’t come to the council for … then you come back to the council and ask us to pay for that (the next year)?” questioned Council member Steve Huggins. “I’m not arguing the merits (of the cameras) — you’ve argued that, and I’m not disagreeing with any of that. But you didn’t ask the council for the appropriation upfront, but you’re coming after the fact when you could have had all these statistics and facts prior to that and made the same argument.”
“I was elected as sheriff to provide safety and security for this community, and I, fully within my right, had the decision to make to try (the cameras) for a year,” Holliday responded. He then continued, pointing with his finger, “If you want me to pay for them out of commissary, I’ll do the best I can … It was not in any intention to circumvent (the council), which was displayed as a misuse of my authority.”
Holliday said he does not feel there’s any need for additional cameras but that he had originally considered placing two on S.R. 218.
Also Tuesday, Holliday asked for the budget for two additional jail staff members. While the jail does not currently have a full staff, Holliday said the position has a high turnover, and the added positions would allow the jail to maintain an overall healthier staff level. Holliday reiterated that the state has recommended the jail actually have six additional jailers.
County to purchase
encrypted radios
Wells County is moving forward with new radios for first responders, which will allow them to encrypt radio frequencies for sensitive information. A recent law prohibited first responders from sharing social security numbers and juvenile names over the police scanner to prevent fraud, which Holliday advised is often pertinent information to communicate with dispatch.
Encrypted radios will allow first responders to switch between different frequencies to communicate sensitive information.
Whicker said the county expects to receive a $375,000 grant and would have to pay $125,000 for the radios. This expense was not included in the budget proposal.
Health First Indiana
shakes up budget
As a part of Health First Indiana, Wells County will receive $551,202.90 in 2025 for the Health Department. The county tax levy for the department is $154,000.
Subsequently, the structure of the department budget has significantly changed. Several positions and office supplies have moved under the umbrella of HFI. The HFI budget also includes buying a department vehicle, increased training and event hosting, and $138,000 in local health grants. These grants are available for local organizations that serve health-related needs within the community.
The budget also includes a line item for a second full-time environmental sanitarian who has already been hired as a part-time employee. McCormick later advised that there is no line item for this part-time position, and Administrator Sahara Wall is compensating for the position out of the part-time clerical budget.
Council member Vicki Andrews criticized this decision, saying that raises given to department employees in December 2023 were approved with the understanding that the department would not hire a second environmental sanitarian. Council member Brandon Harnish questioned this, saying that former administrator Marlene Hoag had advised that the department was already understaffed with four full-time employees.
Both sentiments are true — the council had approved the raises contingent on the second sanitarian position being absorbed, but Hoag had repeatedly emphasized that she thought the department was understaffed.
Commissioners want
building inspector, possibly
further insurance changes
The Wells County Commissioners have requested a new position for a building inspector, slated for a $70,000 salary. Representing the board on Tuesday, Commissioner President Jeff Stringer stated the position would also run a new “Building Department” to both manage and monitor county-owned buildings, as well as issue inspections and permits for privately-owned buildings.
This would not include buildings within the Bluffton city limits, as they have their own inspector.
Even so, several council members questioned whether one person could take on all the expected responsibilities. “I’ll bet you dinner that in three years, there’ll be at least three people in this department,” Elzey said.
“Well if you approved it,” Stringer joked. “I’m not going to say it’s all figured out — it’s a whole new department.”
Harnish, however, cited Health Department and Area Plan Commission positions that could support the building inspector. He also suggested the city of Bluffton and the county work together, possibly through an interlocal agreement.
Area Plan Commission Executive Director Mike Lautzenheiser later endorsed the addition of this position, saying there was a large local need for an inspector, and it had been identified as a desire in the Wells County Vision 2035 plan.
Meanwhile, the council also questioned increases for building insurance, which jumped from $46,000 to $74,000, and liability insurance, which rose from $120,000 to $140,000. The Highway Department similarly saw an increase of $46,600 (45.55%) in their building and liability insurance.
These increases were largely attributed to updated evaluations of new buildings and renovations. Insurance is bid out every year by WalkerHughes of Bluffton. Huggins asked, “Are we happy with the broker we have?
Stringer smiled and exchanged a glance with Huggins. “I’ve asked about looking for a new broker too,” he said.
Amidst adjusting evaluations for insurance this past April, Stringer had expressed frustration with a lack of communication from WalkerHughes, and representatives had similarly said the county needed to communicate their needs and changes. McCormick stated she has met monthly with the group to avoid future snags.
Additionally, the commissioners also added a line item for cemetery maintenance totaling $50,000. They also increased the fund for bridge inspections by $49,759 and economic development by $40,000. The budget for a public information officer, a part-time role held by Leann Wyss, was eliminated.
Translation services on the
rise in the Circuit Court
“Last year, we had a need for approximately 48 individuals for interpretative services,” Judge Andrew Antrim said. “As we sit here today, we’ve already had 72.”
On Tuesday, Antrim presented great concern about the cost of translation services in the Circuit Court. According to Antrim, there has been a rise in Burmese and Spanish-speaking individuals commuting to Wells County to work and then facing misdemeanor charges for driving without a license. The court must provide translation services for non-English speakers, which can be costly.
In his budget, Antrim raised the budget for translation services from $5,000 to $7,500. While grant funding is available, he said it has not matched what he expects to be an exponentially growing need.
“What I see is a rise, between the next five to seven years, of having a huge number of people that will need these interpretative services,” Antrim said. “When I was elected in 2014, never in the world would I have imagined I’d be asking you for this kind of support.”
Also in the courts, the Probation Department requested to purchase a vehicle for $45,000. They planned to transfer the old vehicle to the Prosecutor’s Office.
Prosecutor Colin Andrews also asked the county to increase its support of two paralegals in the civil division from half-salary to full salary. The positions have been supported through an Incentive Fund, but the county can be reimbursed at 66% from the state. Andrews also requested a $2,500 raise for the positions.
Highway Department
test drives new software
A new software has been implemented in the Highway Department, and Supervisor Shawn Bonar requested an additional $17,000 to continue using it in 2025. The program, Vialytics, takes pictures of the roadway from a vehicle phone to identify and organize road needs within the county.
Bonar stated the department has collected 80,000 images of county roads in their trial usage.
The department also cut the budget for stone, salt and sand by $55,000, as they retained a significant stock after a relatively mild winter.
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Additionally, nearly every department requested a 3-5% cost of living raise. McCormick requested her department receive 2% more than elsewhere, citing the time-sensitive and demanding nature of their positions. She advised the positions were hard to replace and didn’t want employees transitioning to courthouse positions with similar pay and lighter workloads.
The council will meet next to discuss the budget at 6 p.m. on Aug. 20 at the Wells County Carnegie Annex. If needed, the council will meet again at 6 p.m. on Aug. 21 and 22.
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