By Walker and Roysdon in the Muncie Star-Press:
Delaware County Council, given the responsibility of overseeing county government's case of walking financial pneumonia in the past few years, will take a final vote on its 2014 budget in Tuesday's regular monthly meeting.
During a few days and random hours of budget sessions in the past month, council members reached their goal of cutting enough from the budget to avoid having to cut the county's 400-plus member workforce or hours of service to the public.
It's safe to say, however, that there's a difference of opinion on how the cuts happened. Not in the numbers, but in the method.
Unless things change at the last minute, council will have cut $6.6 million from budget proposals by moving millions of dollars in spending to other funds.
Of that $6.6 million, $5.2 million for employee health insurance was cut from the commissioners' budget — but will now be covered by county option income tax (COIT) revenue rather than property taxes.
Likewise, $1.1 million was cut from a fund for pensions for sheriff's deputies — an expense that's been under-funded over the years — and also moved to COIT accounts, although only $800,000 was earmarked.
Actual cuts? About $302,000.
"We're not doing anything," veteran council Republican Ron Quakenbush told The W/R Report.
The county will begin the year with an operating balance of about $600,000.
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See the full article here:
http://www.thestarpress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2013309210007
