The Hamilton County Council finished the annual exercise of budget hearings during the past week.  According to my news-gathering partner, the Hamilton County Reporter, the 2020 county spending plan calls for a budget of just under $100 million.

The proposed budget includes six new full-time positions, one each in the Surveyor’s Office, Parks and Recreation Department, Sheriff’s Department, Office of Emergency Management, and Soil and Water Conservation District. A new full-time and part-time employee have also been budgeted for the Youth Assistance Program as well as a part-time employee for the Purdue Extension Office. The proposed budget includes raises averaging 7 percent for county employees and 3 percent for elected officials. A total of $1.2 million was also budgeted to support 13 Hamilton County not-for-profit agencies, including Janus, Aspire and the Humane Society.

“All in all, budget deliberations went extremely well,” said Council Vice President Rick McKinney. McKinney will become Council President in January. “Hamilton County government is in a solidly strong financial position today, which will continue through the end of 2020.”

A public hearing on the budget is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 4 at the council’s next monthly meeting. The council is scheduled to formally adopt the proposed budget at a special meeting at 8:30 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 16 in Conference Room 1A. Once approved, the budget will be sent to the State of Indiana for approval before going into effect Jan. 1, 2020.