It was a business day for the Marshall County Council on Monday as they tackled a couple of important issues and completed their work for the year.

The council made its annual appointment to the Marshall County Alcoholic Beverage Commission.  They again appointed Maria Keller to be their representative.  The Commissioners and Mayor also make an appointment to the board. 

The County Council also approved the Sheriff’s contract for 2023.  The commissioners approved the contract at their December 5th meeting.  It was stated that the contract was exactly the same as the 2022 contract except for the dates and a wage increase.  The salary was increased to $95,285.58. 

The County Auditor also presented an ordinance to transfer funds from the General Fund into the Rainy-Day Fund.  Julie Fox said as of November 30th the cash balance of the General fund was $5,990,127.88.  The 2023 estimated revenue is $13,929,013 which is in excess of the amount needed to support the 2023 General Fund budget which is $13,747,501. 

Fox read, “The county had previously established a Rainy-Day fund for the purpose of setting aside funds in the event of an emergency situation or an economic downturn.  Indiana Code 36-1-8-5.1c allows transfers to the Rainy-Day Fund with the limitation that the amount transferred not exceed 15% of the total budgets for a political subdivision.”  Fox said the total 2023 budget is $32,662,620.  Her recommendation was to transfer $3 million from the General Fund to the Rainy-Day Fund.

As a side note, Fox said the county is scheduled to receive $3,528,247.50 into the General Fund on December 16th. 

County Councilmember Tim Harman commented that it looked like the Rainy-Day Fund will increase from $2 million to $5 million with the approval of the resolution and Fox confirmed his statement.  He said, “I’m a little uncomfortable shifting that much.  I know it is probably pretty much the same as far as flexibility.  You will start the year with $6 million and probably get down to $2 million to $3 million by the time we get the next tax draw.” 

Fox told Harman the county will continue to get revenues throughout the months until the next settlement. 

Harman said the fund will deplete faster than the revenues. He commented that the county could transfer funds back into the General Fund from the Rainy-Day.

The motion was made to approve the transfer of $3 million from the General Fund into the Rainy-Day fund and it unanimously passed.