Jackson County Council faces budget woes

Negative publicity about the Jackson County budget of the past few years has cooled down competition for the 2006 county council race, according to council incumbents. \n"It's not fun to be on the council when you don't have a lot of money to spend," said Democratic Councilman Andy Fountain, who is seeking his third term unopposed.\nThree Democratic candidates are running unopposed for re-election in their districts. Only one district has new candidates, Republican Brian Thompson and Democrat Max Noblitt. The winner of the district will join six other members on the council to deal with Jackson County's financial problems.\nDeficit spending is currently the biggest concern of the council. Over the years, the county has added many new services, including an ambulance service, jail and juvenile detention center, new Superior Court building and new voting system, said Republican Charlie Murphy, one of the three current councilmen at large voted in by the county to serve on the council for another two years before an election.\nCounty revenue has not risen enough to support those operations. To reduce expenses next year, the council has trimmed about $900,000 from the requested $9.7 million for the general fund, which supports the majority of the county department functions. Jackson County still expects a deficit around $1 million.\nMoney that could be used for salary increases must be diverted to the costs of the new services, Murphy said. County employees have not received raises for two years and some faced cutbacks of their health insurance benefits and hours of work last year, Jackson County Human Resource Director Jeffrey Hubbard said.\n"We've worked really hard to deal with the finances of our employees, and we are trying to get their salaries to where they are supposed to be," said Debra Hackman, a Democratic incumbent running unopposed for re-election. "Some of their salaries are way inadequate for their jobs."\nAlso covered by the general fund are the soaring costs of the county's law enforcement functions, including methamphetamine seizures and several high-profile cases, such as the sniper shootings near Interstate 69 in July, processed by the county courts. \nAll these operations have been eating up the surplus and left the county finance in the red, said Republican Councilman at Large Edward Koerner. \nThe council has also been debating the need for a third court to deal with family issues, such as divorce and child custody, said Republican Richard Brackmeyer, president of the county council.\n"The caseload of our circuit court is overwhelming, and people have to wait forever to get their cases heard," Hackman said. "If you look at our population, we should have four courts, but we only have two."\nThe Indiana Legislative Services Agency Commission on Courts recommended a new court for the county last year, "but we had to drop it because we had no money to fund it," Fountain said.\nThompson, the only new Republican candidate in the race, said he was encouraged to replace a district slot for Brackmeyer, who withdrew from the election after the primary. \n"I know that the county is having deficit problems, but I grew up here, and I feel strongly about Jackson County," said Thompson, who has had financial planning experience by serving on a township advisory board and credit union board. "I want to spend the county money carefully just like I am spending my own money."\nNoblitt, the new Democratic candidate running against Thompson, said he is familiar with the budget process because he was on township trustee and administrative management boards before.\n"If there is not enough money coming in, then you don't want to spend more than what's coming in," said Noblitt, who has lived in the county for more than 70 years. "You can't let the wells run dry." \nRepublican and Councilman at Large Matt Reedy said the council, which has several members holding seats for more than two terms, needs new blood to think outside the box.\n"We do need different ideas, and I hope our new member can bring new perspectives to the council," Koerner said.