Commissioners approve 2016 county EDIT plan

The Putnam County Commissioners on Monday allocated the nearly $1 million raised from the County Economic Development Income Tax (EDIT).

With a total of $967,219 available in EDIT funds, the commissioners divided the Capital Improvement Plan between 12 different funds.

These include $461,062 for the jail bond, $373,410 to the warchest, $40,000 to the Economic Development Center, $30,413 for the Edgelea road project annual payment, $15,000 to the Edgelea debt contingency, $13,334 to West Central Economic Development, $10,000 to Beyond Homeless, $5,000 for the Putnam County Senior Center, $5,000 to Rural Transit, $5,000 Civil War Memorial grant match, $5,000 for the Putnam County Emergency Food Pantry and $4,000 for the Indiana Bicentennial celebration.

It was noted during the meeting that the jail bond should be paid off in 2017.

The commissioners also approved a pair of lease agreements brought before them by the Putnam County Sheriff's Department.

With financing for both projects through First National Bank, Sheriff Scott Stockton and Chief Deputy Phil Parker presented the two plans to the commissioners.

The department proposed to purchase three new Ford Explorers at a total cost of $93,563.13. Stockton said purchasing a slightly different kind of vehicle of a reduced lighting package, most of which is installed at the factory, reduces the cost by about $10,000.

The lease-to-own plan will be financed through a three-year lease at a 2.19 percent fixed interest rate. The annual payment to FNB will be $32,563.60.

The second lease agreement is also three years in length and is for the purchase of 30 new laptop computers at a cost of $28,800.

The Laptops in sheriff's department vehicles are badly in need of upgrade, particularly to support the InterAct software currently being put into place at the Putnam County 911 Dispatch Center.

The lease has a 2.33 percent fixed interest rate and annual payments of $10,050.79.

Each lease comes with a $1 buy out.

The commissioners approved both least agreements.

In other business:

* The commissioners approved the annual freeze-thaw ordinance, which gives the Putnam County Highway Department a 90-day window in which it can enact temporary load restrictions on roads that grow particularly soft or damaged by winter weather.

* Commissioners passed a $15 filing fee for personal property taxes on businesses.

The new fee is an attempt to recover some of the revenue lost by a state mandate that businesses with less than $20,000 in assessed value on personal property do not have to pay taxes on it.

* During their Monday, March 7 meeting, the commissioners will consider vacating an alley in New Maysville. The alley runs between Eternal Grace Baptist Church and another property, both of which are owned by Mike Foster.

Foster is hoping to build a pair of baseball diamonds on the back part of the property. Some of the construction would occur on the currently county-owned alley.

The alley has long since been abandoned for any official use, and Foster already mows the grass that grows in the spot.