Council considering 2014 as budget hearings approach

By JARED JERNAGAN

Assistant Editor

Keenly aware of 2014 county budget hearings just three weeks away, and changes to county funding already on their radar, the Putnam County Council spent Tuesday's meeting considering some other changes to the budget in the next year.

While the new state budget allows for a $1.5 million increase in road funding over the next two years, the council learned early in Tuesday's meeting the Putnam County Jail is housing fewer Department of Correction inmates, and that program will soon go away altogether.

This means no money from the state for housing its inmates.

Into this atmosphere of positive and negative complicating factors, came Tuesday's discussions of Putnam County Highway health insurance and funding for Putnam County Operation Life, both topics certainly on next month's crowded agenda.

The highway department came before the council with three additional appropriations requests: $100,000 for road repairs, $100,000 for stone and $100,000 for health insurance.

While these are simply matters of appropriating money already in the highway fund -- no general fund money went toward these projects -- the insurance appropriation sparked questions among councilors.

Councilman Phil Gick asked if paying the highway's health insurance out of county general funds might be a wise decision. County officials are often trying to find more road money, and changing the source of this money would free up more of the department's money.

The council will further discuss the topic as part of the 2014 budget.

Following the June decision to draw the county's funding for Operation Life from the rainy day fund, OL executive director Kraig Kinney approached the board to open the discussion about 2014 funding.

Kinney was concerned with questions from the council about the ambulance service being self-sustaining. He said that while this may have been promised by a past director of the service, both Kinney and his board believe county funding is vital to the quality and responsiveness of Operation Life.

Without the additional $80,000 from the county, Kinney said he was fearful that either the substation in Cloverdale or Bainbridge would have to close its doors.

The renewed concern came from the decision to no longer draw the OL money from the county's hazardous waste fund, a policy the State Board of Accounts has repeatedly admonished.

Kinney suggested OL funding could come from the general or rainy day fund, but also said approaching the state might be the answer.

As it has done in the past, the county could lobby legislators -- particularly Rep. Jim Baird, a former Putnam County commissioner -- to try and get the hazardous waste law changed so that emergency medical ambulance services are one of the allowed uses.

The state did something similar in 2011 when road funding was added as an allowed use.

The State Board of Accounts has even advised the county auditor during past reviews that the county should propose the change to the state.

It has been recommended that resolutions from both the county commissioners and county council would be beneficial in getting a positive response from the state.

For now, though, any change in funding is at least two years away. As such, the council must now grapple with funding for the ambulance service outside of the hazardous waste fund.

County budget hearings are set for Sept. 16 and 17 in the Putnam County Courthouse Commissioners Room.