The Marshall County Council conducted its April meeting last evening in the County Building.
This year the council has decided to use a Consent Agenda for approving the additional appropriations and transfers. A consent agenda is a tool used to streamline meeting procedures by collecting routine, non-controversial items into a group whereby all are passed with a single motion and vote. This method has grown in popularity in recent years and there are many variations on the theme to meet specific needs.
Thursday evening when the council came to the Consent Agenda, President Jesse Bohannon asked if there was anything to be pulled out and discussed separately. Councilman Tim Harman asked to pull the $200,000 request from the County Commissioners to appropriate money for the Small Structure Inventory from the Rainy-Day Fund.
During the discussion, Harman said the Cumulative Bridge Fund “is healthy” with $3.6 million and projected annual revenues of $1.8 million. He said he thought the revenue projections were “a little shy, solely because the earning on the investment was based on a very small interest rate.” He said going forward the county should earn roughly $100,000 a year more just in interest.
Harman said the county’s financial consultant Baker Tilley submitted an analysis on the Bridge Fund and said the county could spend up to $2 million out of the fund for other capital outlays. He said, “I think maybe it’s putting the cart before the horse to dip into the Rainy Day. I’d like to use the Cum Bridge Fund going forward.” Harman suggested sending the request back to the commissioners. He said he’s willing to fund the project but using the Cum Bridge Fund instead of the Rainy-Day Fund.
Harman then made the motion to deny the request to fund the Small Structure Inventory Project using the Rainy-Day Fund. His motion was seconded by Adam Faulstich. The vote was unanimous at 7-0. The council did make it clear they are willing to fund the project using the Cum Bridge Fund.
