The Porter County Council will hold a special meeting on Wednesday, April 10, to reaffirm the holds they put on the County Auditor’s non-reverting fund.
At its March 11 meeting, the Council split 5-2 to transfer $606,710 in the fund to an unallocated fund which Auditor Robert Wichlinski said does not exist.
The squelch on the fund happened as the majority of Council members argued they wished to hear from the auditor how he would spend the money, for the sake of accountability. Council President Robert Poparad, D-At Large, had told Wichlinski that he could reacquire the money by asking the Council for it.
Voting to transfer the funds to unallocated on March 11 were Poparad, and members Dan Whitten, D-At Large, Sylvia Graham, D-At Large, Karen Conover, R-3rd, and Jeremy Rivas, D-2nd. Members voting against the measure were Jim Biggs, R-1st, and Jim Polarek, R-4th.
“I don’t think the auditor can spend that money. We, as the county’s fiscal body, made a vote,” said Whitten.
The non-reverting fund was set up to help fund a total quality management program that was coordinated with the assessor, treasurer, and recorder’s offices to expedite tax collection processes and recoup homestead credit violations.
At the end of the Council’s regular meeting on Tuesday, Poparad asked Wichlinski’s chief of staff Alizabeth Bailey about reports that the auditor’s office spent $57,000 since the March 11 vote.
Bailey said that the money was used to pay outstanding bills related to the funds. She said the office was “not going against (the Council’s) request” because the transfer of funds was “not done properly.”
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