Clinton County Council members approved more than $1.1 million in new county spending at their Aug. 12 meeting, headlined by nearly $549,000 to replace six aging sheriff’s patrol vehicles and a $38,000 emergency appropriation to cover a health insurance budgeting error that had gone uncorrected for roughly three years. The vote came during a wide-ranging session that also saw council members push back the county’s second budget hearing by a week and hear updates on jail lighting upgrades and a years-long effort to win historic status for the fairgrounds’ 1909 Administration Building.
More Than $1.1 Million in New Spending Approved
Council members voted 4-0 to approve a full slate of additional appropriations, the largest of which was $548,739 pulled from the county’s federal inmate fund to buy six Chevrolet Tahoes and a Chevrolet Traverse for the sheriff’s department fleet. Officials said the fund, once considered too uncertain to rely on, has rebounded to a balance of more than $1.6 million.
Other items included $448,747.88 in unanticipated state highway funding, $30,000 for local drug and alcohol prevention, treatment and enforcement programs, $24,550 for an opioid grant funding peer recovery coach salaries in probation, and $9,000 to restock the county’s immunization program.
Health Department’s Insurance Bill Reveals Years-Long Miscalculation
The largest single discussion centered on the $38,000 appropriation needed to cover a shortfall in the health department’s insurance line. Administrator Melissa Ostler said the department has already used 87% of its insurance budget for the year. “It doesn’t make us happy to come and ask to move another $38,000 into our budget when we work so hard to keep it in line, but I certainly understand it’s a requirement,” Ostler said.
Officials determined the department’s benefit costs had been under-budgeted for several years running. “I think what we found is that over probably ’24 and ’25, it didn’t go up as it should have, and now that we’ve caught it up correctly, we had to catch up essentially three years’ worth of catchup at once,” Council President Alan Dunn said. Ostler said she has been asked to budget $125,000 for insurance next year, up from roughly $75,000 this year, and asked whether the county could help offset the increase.
Budget Hearings Pushed Back A Week
Council members voted to move the county’s second round of budget hearings from Sept. 22-23 to Sept. 29-30 after the original dates were found to conflict with the Association of Indiana Counties’ annual conference, which many department heads attend.
Public Safety And Preservation Updates
Sheriff Brendon Bright presented a plan to convert 182 fluorescent light fixtures at the jail and administrative hallways to LED lighting for $21,550, using money already in the budget. “There’s a lot of cost savings involved with LEDs,” Bright said, adding the upgrade would also fix dim lighting flagged in recent jail inspections. The county projects about $7,800 a year in electricity savings from the jail conversion alone.
EMS Director Steven Deckard reported the agency’s paramedic training program passed its accreditation site visit in July with zero cited violations. Deckard credited the program with lowering overtime costs from $228,497 in 2022 to $118,812 this year. “Statistically speaking, every three years, EMS agencies are being faced with potentially having to replace their entire service,” Deckard said, citing national paramedic turnover rates of 20% to 30%.
Skip Davis, of the Clinton County Fairgrounds Historical Society, updated council members on efforts to win historic designation for the fairgrounds’ 1909 Administration Building, a step needed before the county can pursue larger preservation grants for a failing roof and damaged arches. Davis said he still doesn’t know how much of the eventual cost the county might cover. “I don’t know whether that’s total cost, whether that’s a 50/50 with that much coming from the county and that much coming from the public. I just don’t know,” Davis said. Council members said they weren’t ready to commit funding until a scope and budget are developed with the county commissioners, who own the building.
In other business, the council approved a revised 2026 salary ordinance, accepted a non-binding review of 2027 tax levy estimates for distribution to other taxing units, and approved a lower-paying job description change for a Parkview nursing position.