County agrees to give Dubois Strong additional funding
After a two hour meeting Wednesday evening, the Dubois County Council decided to give Dubois Strong $140,000 in additional funding and to keep $7 million in Economic Development Income Tax funds for future and surprise expenses.
The budget session was scheduled after the council was approached by Dubois County Community Corrections, the Huntingburg Airport, the Dubois County Park and Dubois Strong about tapping into $11 million in EDIT savings the county has accumulated over the years.
The attraction for these groups is the over $11 million in savings the county has built up from local economic income taxes collected from each county resident’s paycheck.
The council identified about $3.5 million in current projects and requests that could be funded through the EDIT funds.
The county has been criticized by some for accumulating such a large amount of savings rather than using it for tax relief or economic development projects. The council’s position has been that the savings has allowed them to take on large projects such as major road repairs without having to issue bonds. One such project the county has agreed to assist in funding is the Huntingburg Overpass. They have agreed to provide share half of the 20 percent of the local contribution to the cost of the project. The cost of the project has not been announced yet but the council expected to contribute at least $1.5 million.
The Huntingburg Airport requested $450,000 to assist in building a t-hangar to allow for more airplanes to be stored at the airport. The 10 aircraft t-hangar will cost about $540,000.00 to build — $270,000 in site preparation and $270,000 for the structure — and will provide relief for the crowded existing hangars. Currently, planes are placed in such tight configuration that airport officials and plane owners worry about damage as they are moved around to get them in and out of the buildings.
The Dubois County Park Board is requesting $150,000 to repair roads in the park.
Dubois County Community Corrections has asked the county to cover shortfalls in its budget. These shortfalls have been a subject of debate since last December when Community Corrections director J.P. Weisheit informed the council the department was running in the red monthly due to the higher cost of operations and the stagnant amount of funding available through a department of corrections grant that hadn’t been raised significantly in seven years.
Dubois Strong announced plans for its new initiative to attract new workers for the nearly 1,000 jobs expected to open up in the next three years. Masterbrand and Jasper Engines have announced plans to add over 500 jobs over the next two years. To help attain these goals, Dubois Strong’s executive board requested an additional $180,000 from the county’s EDIT funds for 2014. They also requested the county to increase their annual contribution to $320,000 for 2015 and 2016.
Dubois Strong’s plans with the money include adding an additional employee to increase staffing to three in the office. Mike Cummings has filled the position as interim executive director since 2012 but the organization plans on hiring someone for that position. Cummings or another individual would assist the new executive director as Dubois Strong fulfills its role as the local economic development organization.
The annual contribution from the county has been $60,000 annually since the organization was formed, but to assist the organization’s plans moving forward, the council approved injecting the additional $140,000 into their budget this year. By a show of hands, the council also gave a consensus to also increase funding for the organization to $200,000 in 2015 and 2016.
According to Dr. Johnson, the group will now formulate their plan based around the increased funding. “We have to increase our staffing to a three-person staff,” Johnson said. “We had suspended our search, but we will reopen that search to find an executive director.”
The council’s decision was split 5-2 with Councilman Mark Brescher and Councilwoman Martha Wehr both voting nay and abstaining from the consensus call. Brescher has been critical of increasing the funding anymore than double the county’s current contribution. Wehr has stood fast on the organization asking for an increase from all the partners involved in its funding. She and Brescher both agreed that the cities and incorporated towns should also increase their allotted funding for the program and seek greater private investment.
The council made no other funding decisions but plans on tackling those issues at the next scheduled meeting.
What a scam, The council a month ago says come back next month. How convenient the day after the primary’s. All these crooks should be thrown out for incompetence and waste of taxpayer Money.
I would like too see the results of Dubois Strongs efforts. They announced they have a plan? Whats the plan? All they announced is a plan to add staffing and collect more money from the taxpayer!
As for the airport .0023% of the county will benefit from $540000 of taxpayer money Again what a scam.
It seems Mike Cummings has a pretty good scam going with the council, between Dubois Strong and being on the airport Board, He scamed the county out of $1,000,000.00 in one day.
Maby he should reward himself with a vacation on the county airplane.
Taxpayers need to remember come election time, Keep on working because there are people more fortunate than you that need your Taxpayer dollars.
I will point out that some on the council have stated in the past they wanted to end the EDIT and not save it up to be used for projects. EDIT today has become just another income tax where the funds are not used for economic development but standard road repair, bill payments, etc. our regular tax revenue should cover. Funding Dubois Strong is a good thing as long as Dubois Strong continues to seek out new businesses to grow the economy. Helping advertise for workers to move is a good thing but it can’t be the only thing they are working on with our tax revenue. As Jim Thyen stated when he set up the Kimball International land for the shovel ready process, we need a diversity of jobs in the area. Having manufacturing ready employee locate here helps the current need but we cannot forget about diversification. The funds and future extra employee of Dubois Strong should be focused on diversification in their long range goals. We need to build upon on what we have. All you have to do is drive through Kentucky on the way to Cincinnati to know business are growing by the massive buildout occurring in Florence KY today. It would be great to tap into that, and have another type of manufacturer locate here and a maybe tech firm too.
Adrian, you must have people in order for another type of manufacturer–tech firm or otherwise–to even begin considering a move to Dubois County. So, Dubois Strong’s initiative to “lead the charge”, so to speak, of placemaking and helping to make Dubois County a place that is inviting for a young family to move/relocate to, is essential…among the many other activities Dubois Strong does to assist existing business, entrepreneurial efforts, etc.
Jeff, the airport is one of the only reasons Dubois County’s major corporations are not only able to survive, but thrive. It’s probably the most under-appreciated piece of crucial infrastructure our county has…How do you think Kimball and Masterbrand and OFS and Best Home Furnishings get large accounts to the County to tour, wine and dine them, etc., etc. Yep, the airport. Underappreciated to say the least. The airport goes away, this County has a completely different outlook and feel. It is in the County’s best interest to help them build revenue streams.
So, yeah. I think the voters should remember that their County Council made two very pro-active, pro-business steps that will benefit the County for a long time to come.
Yes those corporations get great use from the investment they made at the airport, This money the airport was handed was not an investment toward business but rather towards individuals that can afford expensive play toys but dont want to invest in the airport as the corporations have. And what ever happened to the airplane the county purchased has it gone away or merely hidden from the taxpayers.
As for Dubois Strong the proof is in the pudding. can they show where the have actually made an impact in dollars and cents, it seems to be mostly just talk and pricey talk at that.
I believe the citys and towns in the county have promotional divisions to promote tourism and growth, if Dubois strong is a County promotional division then they should be audited as if they are a county department. It seems their salary’s are above what alot of other county employees are makeing.
Final point:
If the taxpayers have been overtaxed to the tune of $11,000,000 surplus maby they should think about cutting the tax down a little. How about a break for the common guy instead of handouts to the more fortunate.
Big Government has made its way to Dubois County, there is no accountability for waste and corruption.
So, maybe I’m confused? The new hanger will create more room to store more airplanes (expensive toys, to be sure), but will it not also generate more storage fees for the airport? They don’t get to just park their airplane there for free because they’re rich, do they? Plus, they have to buy their gasoline from somewhere, don’t they? Won’t more airplanes increase the amount of gas sold by the airport?
Again, sure seems like something the County government should want to support.
We’ll just agree to disagree about Dubois Strong. You might want to take a look around at most of the other counties in Indiana, however. The vast majority have economic development agencies that work to retain businesses, expand businesses, recruit businesses, foster an entrepreneurial spirit, etc.–just like Dubois Strong does for our County.