County Council sees better than expected signs heading into 2021

The big news coming out of the Putnam County Council meeting wasn’t what the council did Tuesday evening, but what it learned.

What the council learned is that the county’s fiscal situation — at least in certain spots — is healthier than expected.

The first bit of this good news came from Commissioner Rick Woodall, who informed the Council that County Highway revenue was better than expected.

In the early days of the pandemic, County Highway Supervisor Mike Ricketts had been warned to be prepared for budget shortfalls of as much as 30 percent.

However, with the revenue draws in for December, Ricketts recently reported to the Commissioners that revenue was only four percent, or $154,757.59, below the projections.

While any shortfall can be interpreted as bad news, the county had prepared for far worse.

“That is way better than what we thought we were,” Woodall said.

County Auditor Lorie Hallett had some even better news in that the county health insurance trust is set to receive $230,429.28 for the end of the year.

Besides this, Hallett reported that the trust did not have to be utilized at all this year to pay the health insurance premiums for county employees, the first time this has happened in a number of years.

Two factors have helped the county’s health insurance costs in recent years, the move of most employees to a health insurance savings account as well as the county joining the Proactive MD health and wellness center earlier this year.

“We’re ending the year a lot better than we thought,” Council President Dave Fuhrman said.

In approving a transfer for the Putnam County Clerk’s Office, the council got another welcomed piece of information.

The Council approved two transfers to the clerk’s equipment fund totaling $13,386,41 for the purchase of poll pads the department needed for the recent election.

This transfer replaces the $13,080 additional appropriation the Council approved last week, meaning the money will now come from within the clerk’s own budget rather than the County General Fund.

In other news, the council:

• Gave 5-0 approval to the 2021 salary ordinance, with affirmative votes from Danny Wallace, Jill Bridgewater, Keith Berry, Larry Parker and Phil Gick. President Fuhrman only votes in the case of a tie and retiring Councilman Gene Beck was not present.

• The board also gave unanimous approval to reappointing two local board members. Dr. Elizabeth Kirsh will serve another term on the Putnam County Board of Health, while Barbara Boese will continue as a member of the Putnam County Public Library Board.

• The Council set its 2021 meeting dates and times. The council will continue to meet at 6:30 p.m. on the third Tuesday of each month in the Commissioners’ Courtroom on the first floor of the Putnam County Courthouse.

The one exception will be in September, in which the council will meet on Tuesday, Sept. 28 at 6:30 p.m. The meeting will also feature the 2022 budget adoption.

The budget hearings will take place on Aug. 24-26 at 9 a.m. each day.

• The council will also meet in a special session at 11 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 4, following the Putnam County Commissioners meeting.

This will be the first meeting for new Council member Stephanie Campbell.