By Ken de la Bastide
Liberty Township Trustee Linda Grove will withdraw a request for a $10,000 loan from Howard County and will not renew an appeal with the state for an excess tax levy.
Grove sought a $39,000 and $15,000 excess tax levy to pay for township poor relief. Those requests were denied by the Department of Local Government Finance.
Then, in December, she sought a loan from Howard County because her account was $5,300 in the red.
Now, she says, it’s all been taken care of.
“I have paid all the bills,” Grove said of the 2009 budget.
Commissioner Bill Thompson met Tuesday with Grove and the Liberty Township Advisory Board. The main objective, he said, was to help her meet the needs of township residents.
Thompson said the commissioners will ask the advisory board to review the township’s books.
The Indiana State Board of Accounts gave the township clear audit reports for 2006 and 2007. Another state audit is scheduled this year.
Stan Zirkle, a member of the township advisory board, said he was confident the fiscal problems can be resolved.
“I think there was some misinformation on the [tax] draw,” he said. “She received more than expected and finished a little bit in the red.”
Grove estimated the township relief fund would be $5,400 in the red at the end of 2009, but when the actual revenues from property taxes were received, the fund finished with a negative balance of $347.
Grove said the township budgeted $23,064 for poor relief in 2009, but only received $14,675. The township started the year with a $10,500 surplus. She distributed a total of $25,544 last year in poor relief.
Laurie Martin, chief deputy in the Howard County Auditor’s Office, said the budget for township poor relief was higher than the anticipated revenues for the year.
Martin said Liberty Township received $11,281 in property taxes and the remainder came from miscellaneous revenues.
“[Grove] should not have planned on receiving the budgeted amount,” Martin said.
Martin said for 2010, the township has budgeted $39,315 for township relief that has not been approved by the state. She said the township will receive approximately $15,500 in property taxes this year.
“The budget will have to be adjusted,” she said.
Grove indicated she know in March she would run a deficit in the township relief fund.
“Maybe I will, maybe I won’t,” she said when asked if there would be enough money to meet 2010 expenses. “From March to December, I sweated it.”
Grove said included in the township assistance budget for 2009 were wages and benefits of $2,275, including $1,675 for her husband, Ken; $5,720 for supplies and expenses; $3,725 for direct assistance; and $24,620 for other township relief.
Starting in November, Grove began placing the $980 received monthly in county option income tax funds toward poor relief expenses.
Included in the expenses was $2,700 for office rent and utilities from township relief. Another $2,700 was budgeted for rent in the township’s general fund.
The office is a separate pole barn structure with an attached office on Grove’s property.
She said the building was under construction by her husband at the time she was elected trustee in 2002 and township funds were not used.
Grove said she charges $450 per month for rent, which includes utility costs.
“There has been a lot of misinformation,” Zirkle said. “She didn’t build the pole barn or buy lawn equipment with township funds.”
Her salary as trustee increased from $9,216 in 2007 to $15,500 for 2009 and 2010, an increase of 68 percent.
“It’s for the hours I put in here,” Grove said of the salary request. “I’m busy all the time.”
Zirkle said the salary increases were based on what other township trustees were earning.
“I think she compared what other trustees were getting and wanted to be equal with the rest of the trustees in the county,” he said. “I think she has been singled out. She’s not doing anything other trustees haven’t been doing.”
Grove said the Liberty Township Advisory Board has approved all the budgets and spending.
She plans to seek election to a third term in November.
“I would be proud to run again,” she said. “People don’t know the hours involved. I’m available all the time.”
Grove said the township books are open to the public and anyone with a question can set up an appointment to review the documents.
“I have nothing to hide,” she said.
• Ken de la Bastide is the Kokomo Tribune enterprise editor. He can be reached at 765-454-8580 or via e-mail at ken.delabastide@kokomotribune.com
