By KEN de la BASTIDE
When the Howard County Council begins work this week on the 2010 budget, many unknowns will impact the final decisions.
The council will meet Wednesday and Thursday to review each departmental and office budget. It will finalize work on the budget in September.
One of the big unknowns is whether an agreement can be reached with Chrysler Group LLC regarding $2 million in personal property taxes owed to the county by Chrysler LLC, which emerged from bankruptcy earlier this year.
Another unresolved question is when General Motors Co., which took over Kokomo’s Delphi facilities, will pay $3.7 million in taxes due in November.
Laurie Martin, chief deputy in the Howard County Auditor’s Office, said the 2010 budget request is $19,511,561, as compared to the $19,566,132 budget approved for 2009.
Martin said County Option Income Tax revenue is expected to decline by $950,000, according to figures provided by the state.
“If the council approves the budget as requested, we will have a zero operating balance,” she said.
Currently, the county has a $4.9 million operating budget.
She said the council has cut $500,000 from the 2009 budget and needs to carry over those spending reductions into next year. It must also cut another $500,000.
Martin said county employees will likely not receive a pay increase for the second consecutive year.
“I don’t know exactly what they have to do,” she said.
Councilman Paul Wyman, R-4th District, who is chairman of the budget committee, said the council won’t go into 2010 without an operating balance.
“We will make the cuts that need to be made,” Wyman said. “We should have the revenue shortfall numbers before the budget session begins. We will meet the shortfall through budget cuts.
“We have to remain flexible,” he said. “There is time to work through some of the issues.”
Wyman said if the situation with Chrysler Group LLC changes between the work sessions and final action in September, the council can make changes to the budget.
“The one certain thing is there will be a shortfall,” he said.
In the 2010 budget request, there are no requests for new employees. Also, salaries of the Howard County assessor and Center Township assessor are being moved from the county’s general fund to the Reassessment Fund, resulting in a $98,024 savings.
The council, too, will consider moving $85,000 in salaries currently paid in the surveyor’s budget from the general fund to another account.
• Ken de la Bastide is enterprise editor of the Kokomo Tribune. Contact him at ken.delabastide@kokomotribune.com or (765) 454-8580.
