Welcome to the Timesheet. This column is a report of work done on behalf of the people of Hamilton County. It’s to be informative too, a place to learn about projects and how our county government works.
As your employee, it’s important to me that you know what is being worked on as transparently as possible in government. You hired me as your County Councilman, and my hope is that you’ll choose to be informed by regularly reading this column, getting involved, and by asking questions. Council meetings are at 7 p.m. the first Wednesday of every month at the judicial center in downtown Noblesville. They are also available to watch online for those unable to attend in person.
Here is where my time this past month has been spent.
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August simply roared by; we began the 2024 public budget meetings on Tuesday, Sept. 5 at 8:30 a.m. in the Commissioners Courtroom with almost 30 scheduled presentations for the 2024 budget. The planning for 2024 continues today, Wednesday, Sept. 6, beginning at 8:30 a.m. Having attended budget sessions in years prior, these are long, interesting, and very important days. This is the culmination of countless hours of work by dozens of people.
Time in month eight was largely consumed being immersed into County budgeting, finances, tax rates, and trend analysis. This included detailed budget discussions with lots of department heads. Hamilton County government services are vast; to do the job well requires a deep dive into the budget requests and getting answers to lots of questions.
When starting the budget review process, I expected some pushback given the depth of examination and the number of questions. The reality has been that almost to a person, department heads have welcomed the questions, engaged in healthy dialogue, and a few even indicated that they appreciate the due diligence, many remarking that they too are taxpayers. The primary job of your County Council is financial oversight for Hamilton County. Ultimately, as your representative I’ll work with the six other council members to decide on 2024 tax rates as well as department and county budgets.
We deal with a tremendous amount of data, money, personnel, and expectations. The 2024 budget includes requested funding for over 50 new county employees, increases in benefits, salaries, retirement, and operational costs. In my view, the first priority of government is public safety. As such, those departments got my attention first.
With the county tax base increasing 8.7 percent, any reoccurring expenses that increase annually beyond that percentage eventually become unsustainable. These must be scrutinized in order to properly manage reserves, our bond rating, debt, and our tax rate. The challenge becomes a balance of great services with great stewardship of taxpayer money. It’s walking a tightrope of sorts balancing the two.
A large amount of my time has been spent working through requested increases in personnel costs, benefits costs, and justifications for any net new county employees. Next my attention turned to large capital expenditures and examining alternatives to any proposed big investments in equipment and depreciable assets.
This month, our in-person personnel committee meeting was canceled, replaced by a poll of the members for a single position reclassification request. Personnel requests will be voted on by the full council at our Sept. 6 meeting. Our highway committee meeting provided updates on existing projects, among other developments, and updates included the closure of a county timber bridge on Atlantic Road just south of State Road 32. Highway projects require council sponsorship. Project details are reviewed in advance, sponsored, and then moved to votes at a subsequent full council meeting. This process, along with statutory regulations that govern procurement, are in place to ensure value and multiple checks and balances on behalf of the taxpayers. Highway project expenses are still high, but we think that some moderation in component costs has begun.
In addition to the County Council public meetings, August’s work included attending a Cicero Town Council public meeting, meeting with Judge Jon Brown regarding future court requirements and judge caseloads, budget review meetings with Judicial Services, budget review meetings with the Hamilton County Director of Administration Lee Buckingham, a joint Commissioner/Council planning meeting followed by a public information joint session. The Board of Commissioners, as the executives of Hamilton County, work with the council to establish, prioritize, and advance county projects. These joint public meetings allow taxpayers the opportunity to learn about pending and in process projects.
This past month also included participating in a meeting with county highway engineers at the request of a constituent asking for road access changes for a retail property. Month eight also included attending a planning meeting with the City of Noblesville Parks Department and leadership from Janus Developmental Services regarding potential future construction at the Janus property.
Of note this month was the final review meeting for the County’s health insurance and retiree benefits in the annual review process. This is one of the largest expense line items for Hamilton County. For our retirees, we have the rare opportunity to lower some costs, improve some benefits, and save the taxpayers money. Working through the volume of details with the county team from Human Resources, Commissioner Dillinger, and our benefits consultants, I am confident in the proposed changes for next year’s plan benefits and our budget.
This month’s work also included additional meetings regarding what could be a new Multi-Purpose Hamilton County Senior Center. As with any significant project, funding will be challenging. Funding primarily with grants is more so. The project is still in the idea stage and far from a success, but I’m attempting to help create a space that can serve several groups of our fellow citizens with as little public money as possible.
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This is my timesheet. This is where my time went during month eight. There are quite a few projects in the queue, and while my job is primarily the financial oversight of the county budget, it is important to understand the Board of Commissioners’ priorities and balance them with the stewardship of taxpayer dollars. That is the job, and I am excited to do the people’s business.
As a taxpayer myself, and listening to so many of you, our employers, it’s important for the taxpayers to have access to all the information you want. I work for you and although you may not choose to do a deep dive into what your County Council does, it’s important that you can always do so. Feel free to contact me at (317) 832-1104 or mark.hall@hamiltoncounty.in.gov with questions, feedback or if you would like to talk about county business.