With $1.6 million deficit, county dips into economic development fund

Last year, Economic Development Income Tax funds were used to bailed Dubois County out of a $1.3 million budget shortfall.

This year, the county council was forced to dip into the EDIT funds again to the tune of $1.6 million.

According to Sandy Morton, Deputy Auditor for the county, the council requested $9,742,905.00 for the 2016 budget; about the same as the amount requested for the 2015 budget.

As of July, the county had about $10 million in accumulated EDIT funds. The council has made it a priority to make sure EDIT funds don’t fall below $7 million. But if the council continues to use the funds to mitigate the shortfall from the state, those funds will bleed out quickly.

To accommodate the shortfall for 2016’s budget, the council is looking for areas in which to make cuts. Salaried county employees will only receive a $400 pay raise this year; about half of last year’s $810 raise. Hourly employees will receive a 20 cent raise — 5 cents less than last year.

But other than pay cuts, the council and county departments were hard-pressed to find other budget items to cut. There isn’t much that can be cut from the department’s budgets and any excess funds revert to the general fund. Cutting funding to the county highways funds was discussed but no action was taken in that direction. The quality of the roads the highway department is responsible for in Dubois County is a high priority for the council and commissioners.

County Council President Greg Kendall told WITZ News that he doesn’t like having to fund the budget with EDIT money, but there’s no other option. “Well, I don’t really feel too good about it because we have to dip back into EDIT funds again because last year we were $1.3 [million] deficit, and this year $1.6 [million] shortfall,” he said.

Kendall says that it’s frustrating to listen to how the State of Indiana is in such good shape fiscally, but counties are struggling. “The people up north are laughing because they got all this money and that’s because they’re not giving us any of it,” he said.