Salaries & highway projects top list of new expenditures
Hamilton County Council members, the financial stewards of county government, began budget hearings at the Judicial Center on Tuesday, Sept. 6. They are working to set a budget of just under $100 million for the 2023 fiscal year.
“It’s a big budget. It’s a big operation,” Council President Steve Schwartz said. “Our biggest expenses are salaries and benefits for the 800-plus county employees as well as highway improvement projects.”
Alexander
Schwartz
The Council will also be presented with budget requests from every department in the county.
“The work starts many months before these dates as the departments lay out a plan for their departments,” Council Vice President Ken Alexander said. “One thing that we changed this year is building in equipment obsolescence and maintenance planning. This type of planning during the budget process is one of the many ways Hamilton County attained the designation as the only Indiana County with AAA bond rating.”
Once approved, the budget will be sent to the State of Indiana for approval before going into effect Jan. 1, 2023.