As our District Two County Council member, I have information to share with you concerning the County's 2009 Budget Hearings. On August 20th, 21st, and possibly the 22nd, the Owen County Council will be conducting annual budget hearings at the Courthouse.

Here is a schedule for the first two days as the third day may not be used:

2009 County Budget Hearings Schedule - Days 1 & 2

Budget hearings are open to the public and are designed to provide an opportunity for you to voice concerns or questions you may have regarding county budgets. As your County Council member representing District Two, I invite you to be a part of the process. If you have any questions, or would like to learn more about the process, please ask.

Our County Auditor had provided budget data to me and I created an electronic copy in PDF format of the budget requests for you. Here is a link to view all of the requests:

2009 County Budget Requests

Many decisions for 2009 are going to be made at these hearings based on these requests and matching them with the short-term and long-term challenges we have to address. In addition, we have to review current budget appropriations and consider the state's financial projections/limitations for our county.  For 2009, in addition to addressing our on-going challenges, I hope to address issues such as the rising cost of gasoline and energy, vehicle rotations for the Sheriff and EMS Departments, courthouse security, wages/salaries structure, and the Local Option Income Tax.

Now that you have this information available to view, there are a couple of comments I want to make which may help put the process into perspective:

BUDGET REQUESTS

The 2009 budget requests are simply that--REQUESTS. By law, we have to advertise budget amounts in advance of the hearings. The advertised amounts are always much much higher than what winds up being approved because it gives us maximum flexibility in addressing the demand for our services and making adjustments. So, please do not be alarmed at things that may seem very high in dollar amount. As a Council member, my duty is to review each line item carefully, establish/justify needs, and match that up with priorities on any amounts before final approval.  In addition, we have to pass and operate under a balanced budget structure, so we can only pass an operating budget that we can pay for.

GOVERNMENT FUNDING

All county government services are funded from a variety of different revenue sources.

There is always a lot of discussion concerning property taxes. Depending on whether you live in the Town of Spencer or out in Washington Township, county government services pull between 14.9% and 18.3% of each property tax dollar you pay. This is a small portion of the overall amount of property tax. Here is a breakdown for 2008:

District Two Property Tax Breakdown per Dollar (2008-Current Year)

Some departments and budgets are not funded by property tax.  In addition to property tax, other county revenue sources include, but are not limited to, income tax, motor vehicle taxes, service fees, 911 surcharges, interest, and state-distributed money.

Thank you for your time today. Additional information about the County Council, myself, and local government can be found on this website. Please feel free to contact me with your questions/concerns.