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2020 Budget hearings underway

Monday marked the beginning of a marathon-slate of budget hearings at the Warren County Courthouse.

As the commissioners work towards the completion of the 2020 budget, each department is scheduled to meet with the commissioners and Fiscal Director Eric Hern between Monday and Thursday.

Commissioner Ben Kafferlin noted that the meetings are open “in order to better facilitate public access as to what we spend their county tax dollars on.”

Speaking generally, Kafferlin noted the departments “generally did a better job of staying” on budget.

Hern cited better communication with the departments while Kafferlin said it is “certainly a function of a lot of different things,” including “clarity of communication” and “also because (we) built a realistic budget last year.”

Hern said that benefits wouldn’t be part of the discussion as those numbers for 2020 won’t be available for a couple weeks.

“The budget should look similar to this year’s budget,” Kafferlin said. “2020 could see a few more capital hits.”

Sheriff

Hern said the Sheriff’s Office budget proposal was “pretty much a flat budget from the previous year.”

Kafferlin thanked Sheriff Ken Klakamp and Chief Deputy Chuck Fetzeck for “being budget conscious” and said the “line of communication was good.”

He said the office “accomplished some big things,” including the school resource officer contract, management software as well as being the “first agency on the new radio system.”

Klakamp said the department applied for a grant which would reduce the cost for body and car cameras as well as radio microphones and a repeater system for the courthouse.

“I think it’s very much needed for protection of the public,” he said of the cameras, and the “protection of our deputies…. We have come a long way in the last four to five years.”

Klakamp also said that the office will be implementing the Law Enforcement Against Drugs program. He described this as a “fresh version” of the DAR program with updated information.

He said funds that the office has raised will be utilized to acquire the curriculum and said the school resource officers are trained.

The officers “will do that on regular time at the schools. We’re going to do it for all fifth graders in the county.”

Klakamp said the new radio system “for us will be a plus” because they won’t have to rent tower space or incur maintenance costs.

District Attorney

Hern said District Attorney Rob Greene’s budget is “less than a $500 increase, year over year.”

Greene asked for new office furniture in the assistant district attorney’s office and also discussed the possibility of new case management software.

Greene said the office’s current software was “implemented in the late 1990s (and) still works. We’re fine with it.”

The challenge, though, is that Warren County is the only entity still utilizing the program.

Kafferlin suggested that the DA could be an add-on software to either the software the jail utilizes or that utilized by probation.

Kafferlin also asked about property and bail forfeitures – potential sources of revenue for the DA’s office.

Greene said that the General Assembly implemented new rules “making it much harder” to attach properties for the purpose of forfeiture in criminal cases. “Forfeitures have gone down quite substantially.”

Most of the bail forfeiture possibilities “were unretrievable” for “a number of different reasons…. (It) wasn’t as lucrative as we had hoped it was going to be.”

Veterans Affairs

Hern noted that the Veteran’s Affairs budget has been “pretty steady” with a net increase of $1,600 overall from some decreased and some increased line items.

Ed Burris, the department’s director, noted that his department brought in $3,120,000 in benefits to county veterans through June 2019, an increase of over $473,000 over the prior year.

Courts

President Judge Maureen Skerda noted that the office is having a “horrible time hiring a (law) clerk,” noting that other counties have a similar challenge.

Hern noted that the courts’ only significant budget change is the an increase in transcript costs.

“It’s a tough one to predict,” Skerda said. “One or two larger bills and we’re stuck.”

Court Administrator Linda Critzer noted that many are now aware that they can acquire a transcript.

“We’ve been bombarded with transcripts,” she said, noting that many are reimbursed.

Kafferlin noted a capital request for sound system work in the Main Courtroom.

“It seems to have gotten worse over the last year or so,” he said. “That does need to be addressed at some time.”

Magisterial District Judges

Hern noted those offices are “almost identical to previous years.”

The only significant increase was postage at District Justice Todd Woodin’s office.

“That’s a difficult one to lay your hands on,” District Justice Raymond Zydonik said. “(You) just don’t know what you’re going to have.”

Zydonik and District Justice Laura Bauer, who both attended, didn’t express any concern about their current locations. Zydonik noted that he would eventually like to move because of the small size of the courtroom at the Hickory St. location but suggested that move for “down the road.”

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