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Commissioners, Council grapple with budget shortfalls
Budget shortfalls are coming for Putnam County. Now it’s the job of elected officials to figure out what to do about it.
Meeting in a special session Monday morning, the Putnam County Commissioners and Putnam County Council came together to discuss shortfalls in the highway department and EMS budgets.
“We’re going to have shortfalls,” Council President Dave Fuhrman said as the meeting opened. “My question is how much.”
Jacque Clements of the Association of Indiana Counties, who assists the Putnam County Auditor’s Office with budget issues, presented her projections to the assembled officials — all three commissioners and six of seven council members.
In the case of motor vehicle-highway (MVH) funds, Clements is projecting a 30-percent shortfall in draws through the end of the year as the state continues to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Clements explained that studies by the Indiana Department of Transportation and the Purdue University Local Technical Assistance Program have shown a 40-percent reduction in traffic in the state, though the idea is that this will get better as the year continues.
“It may graduate back as traffic grows, but we know that our draw in June and July will be hit severely,” Clements said.
With this in mind, Clements based her MVH projections for the rest of the year on 2017 numbers, which were about 30 percent below 2019 levels.
With these estimates in place, the MVH restricted fund, which must be used in some way on road maintenance and improvements, would get to the end of the year with a balance of $154,806.81.
However, MVH unrestricted funds, which may be used on other matters like purchasing equipment, signs, payroll, benefits, utilities, gasoline and administrative costs, would reach the end of the year with a shortfall of $642,357.98.
The difference in the two funds comes in the state requirement that at least 50 percent of MVH funds be spent directly on maintenance. Unfortunately, the easiest cut to make are to projects, as many other obligations still have to be met.
“The problem I foresee happening is we can cut projects quick and easy,” County Highway Supervisor Mike Ricketts said. “But because of the 50 percent restriction, that’s where our problem is going to lie.”
Fortunately there are solutions. One of these is that any time worked or gasoline used directly on road improvements may also be drawn from the restricted funds.
It will simply require increased tracking on the part of the Highway Department and the Auditor’s Office.
There is also the matter of six new dump trucks the department ordered earlier this year. While an agreement has already been reached to purchase the equipment, council members asked if it was possible to cancel a portion or the entirety of the order.
“All they can do is tell you no,” County Attorney Jim Ensley said of modifying the contract.
With these and other matters in mind, Fuhrman requested that the commissioners and Ricketts come up with a plan to cut 30 percent from the MVH budget for the remainder of the year.
The commissioners are to present their plan during their Monday, June 1 meeting.
On the matter of EMS, the shortfall is related to other issues, chief among them that the income amounts were unknown coming into the county’s very first year of having its own emergency medical service.
Putnam County EMS Chief Kelly Russ, who took over direction of the service in March, further said that costs were by far underprojected coming into the year.
This problem has been made worse by the pandemic, which has caused extra costs and an unwillingness for many citizens to call for an ambulance service.
“People are scared to call 911,” Russ said, adding that it’s a problem across the health care industry.
Another problem has been too low of a projection of the need for part-time help.
Clements’ budget projection, which Russ said matches her own almost exactly, is that EMS will have a shortfall of $470,346.31 for the year.
Commissioner Rick Woodall, who oversaw much of the transition from the non-profit Putnam County Operation Life to the county-run Putnam County EMS, was more optimistic, saying that the income should gradually increase as the county is able to collect from more runs as well as pursue back payments owed to Operation Life.
Additionally, more than $100,000 is due from Operation Life, which still exists as a fiscal entity and is turning over such funds to the county.
“But it’s nowhere near $470,000,” Auditor Lorie Hallett said.
“I don’t disagree with that,” Woodall said.
Russ also pointed out that as the COVID-19 pandemic recedes, overtime costs will decrease, as will those for personal protective equipment.
There will also be federal reimbursement for the COVID-19 response, though it’s unclear when these funds will arrive.
Similar to the highway situation, the commissioners were asked to have a plan prepared by June 1 for how to deal with the EMS budgetary shortfalls.
While these plans will be a start, the county will continue to deal with other budget issues moving forward. During its regular meeting Tuesday evening, the Council asked that another joint session with the commissioners be set at 10:30 a.m. on Monday, June 1 to discuss further budget questions.