The Marion County Commissioners approved the budget for 2013 at their morning meeting on Thursday, December 20, 2012. Unlike in previous years, the Commissioners say no cuts will be required and an increase in revenue will allow for some increases for the jail and sheriff’s office.
While the commissioners expressed relief at not having to make more cuts, they said the slightly increasing revenues does not get the county’s safety forces to where they could have been had voters approved the sales tax increase in November.
The 2013 budget calls for General Fund revenues of $15,277,602 and spending of $14,946,121. The revenues are about $350,000 more than what was budgeted for in 2012. The revenue increase for 2013 will come from slightly improving sales tax receipts along with funds from the casino taxes.
One department that will benefit from the increased revenue is the Marion-Hardin Multi-County Correctional Center who says they will be able to re-open the female wing of their facility. Director Dale Osborn said that the budget will allow them to hire six new officers which will be “just enough” to allow them to re-open the wing. The wing will re-open on January 6, 2013.
Osborn said while the budget increase is an improvement, it does not get them to where they could have been had the Sales Tax increase been approved by voters in November. That increase would have added about twice as much funding as the 2013 budget currently calls for.
Osborn said the new budget gets the jail back to what he calls “bare bones” and their beds remain full every day. He said that means they must continue to release prisoners as new ones are brought in.
The Sheriff’s Office is also benefiting from the increased revenue. While details were not available, Commissioner Ken Stiverson said the office will be able to increase by four deputies.
The Sheriff’s Office is also taking back over county dispatching duties from the Marion Township Fire Department. The fire department had been running the county dispatching for the past year without compensation in an effort to help with tight budgets. The department now finds itself with budget issues and can no longer maintain the dispatching.
Details on the hiring and how the dispatching will be funded were not immediately available from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office.
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