01/14/11 Marshall County Auditor Penny Lukenbill had good news for County Council members during their meeting this week. The various departments in county government were able to return approximately $800,000 in un-spend general fund money. This is money that was budgeted in the various department line items in 2010 but not used.
The auditor and council members praised the work of the department heads who worked hard to seep spending their budgets under control.
The County Council also passed a resolution to transfer $600,000 into the rainy day fund. The excess money is from the general fund and CAGIT. County Auditor Penny Lukenbill reported that at the end of 2010 the rainy day fund was at $6.4 million. Disbursements at the beginning of the year for a new financial software package for the Auditor’s Office and funding for the Marshall County Economic Development Corporation brought the fund balance down to $5.9 million. The approved transfer brings that balance back up to $6.5 million.
These announcements brought up the discussion of employee compensation. Councilman Ralph Booker said, “I feel we need to find a way to compensate our employees this year. We really can’t go three years without offering a raise.”
Council President Matt Hassel said, “Now is the time to start looking at that so that we can be ready when budget time comes.”
