The Clinton County Council, financial stewards of Clinton County government, wrapped up budget hearings Tuesday at the Clinton County Courthouse.
The proposed 2024 budget, totaling just over $38 million, includes a six percent pay raise for all county employees as well as the creation of 10 new jobs – one each for the offices of the Auditor, Area Planning, Courts, and Prosecutor, two for the Sheriff’s Office, and four for 911 Central Dispatch.
“We’re especially excited about the creation of a new position for a grant manager,” says Council President Alan Dunn. “We’re hopeful this position will more than pay for itself and ultimately help reduce overall operating costs by identifying untapped funding sources. This position will also help free up time currently spent by our auditor ensuring compliance with grant-funded initiatives.”
Another potential cost-cutting measure is the county’s investment in digitalizing county records. Document Mountain of Kirklin has been hired to archive 14 million documents digitally. The investment will make the documents, like marriage and divorce records, lawsuits, criminal records, and probate, more easily accessible to the public, while also generating revenue through record requests.
“This is probably as smooth a budget year as I can remember. Our department heads submitted very sound, realistic budgets,” adds Dunn, who has been on the council since 2007. “And our large expenses held the line. For example, we were lucky enough to lock in low fuel prices earlier this year, reducing our expenses by 34-percent. And since we negotiated a two-year plan with our health insurance last year, we had no increase in premiums.”
Adoption of the budget is scheduled to take place Tuesday, October 10 at 9:00 a.m. Once approved, the budget will be sent to the State of Indiana for approval before going into effect January 1, 2024.