By HOLLY GASKILL
Beginning their budget review, the Wells County Council identified the need to cut $628,000 from department budget requests. Of this amount, $478,000 is required to break even, and $150,000 creates a surplus.
The council reconvened Monday evening to begin this review. At the time, the council agreed to temporarily suspend approval of new positions and employee raises, pending the recalculations and adjustments made.
Council member Seth Whicker noted that, because of last year’s raises and the addition of the matrix, some employees have received as high as an 18 percent raise in the last year. It had been previously expressed that there may not be a raise given for 2024 with these raises in 2023.
The new positions requested are an equipment operator in the Highway Department, two new employees for the Wells County Jail, a full-time courthouse security position, a part-time investigator for the prosecutor, and an Assistant Chief Probation officer in the Circuit Court.
Below are additional highlights from their discussion.
Election Board
Clerk Beth Davis requested $202,000 for new polling machines, noting that the county’s current equipment is 20 years old. The council favored investing in new equipment but discussed using Rainy Day funds for this purchase instead of budgeting for it in the general fund.
Council member Seth Whicker stated there was approximately $1.4 million in the Rainy Day fund.
County Commissioners
Opinions were mixed regarding renewing the public information officer position. The position was approved in a 4-3 vote last budget cycle for 10 hours per week, $13,750 annually. In the 2024 budget requests, the commissioners included this position at a 4 percent increase, $14,300 annually.
Council member Seth Whicker expressed he was interested in seeing this position through another year. He also shared statistics from Commissioner Mike Vanover, who stated PIO LeAnne (Gibbs) Wyss had logged 280 hours through July 28, much of which was dedicated to various meetings.
“I can see where it could be beneficial to let that momentum, see if it can maintain itself for another year,” Whicker said. Council member Scott Ezley agreed, adding, “It could be a valuable position — it hasn’t been evident to me, but I try to avoid trouble, so I don’t go out on the internet.”
However, Council members Vicki Andrews and Brandon Harnish disagreed.
“I think that we have elected officials of commissioners who should be addressing the information that she’s probably addressing,” Andrews said.
Harnish said he’s not seen a significant impact online from the work, and several council members expressed similar sentiments. Harnish then stated the position needed to be adjusted to have a larger value or eliminated.
Property Tax Credits
The council revisited their discussion regarding reducing property tax credits for Wells County residents, ultimately amending several figures from their proposal. The council will now consider reducing property tax relief from 0.23 percent to 0.14 percent rather than 0.11 percent. There will be a public hearing for the reduction at 7 p.m. on Sept. 5.
Emergency Management Agency and Local Emergency Preparedness Coalition
Multiple adjustments were tentatively made in the EMA and LEPC budget after considering what the department has historically expended. For example, the department spent zero dollars on PPE supplies in 2022, but Director Rick Velasquez asked for a $3,000 increase for 2024.
In 2022, the department had spent $61,075, the council adopted a budget of $89,141 for 2023, and 2024 budget requests totaled $102,647.
“I kind of feel like it was budget time, and he felt like, ‘You know, I’m just going to increase this,’” Andrews said.
Whicker advised since many of these changes were relatively small amounts, Valesquez would always be able to seek an additional appropriation.
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The council will reconvene to discuss the 2024 budget at 6 p.m. on Aug. 23. A public hearing will be held at 7 p.m. on Sept. 5.
holly@news-banner.com
