The second round of department budgets were up on the chopping block on Wednesday as the Greene County Council continued their cuts to the 2016 Budget. Tuesday saw many cuts from a variety of department budgets, but the council still has a way to go in order to stay on track for the $1.7 million in overall cuts.
As with Tuesday, Council President Jerry Frye informed each of the county departments the council would not discuss raises or new hire proposals until the final day of the hearings on Thursday. “We will be calling them back to get additional cuts. We are still open to salary raises, but we still need to see where we are going to end up,” Frye said.
Though the hearings were only supposed to last a half day, after the first couple of hearings, it became evident the day would have to be extended. The first of the departments came in after 9 a.m., and the board heard from many departments including: The Probation Department, Greene County Ambulance Service, Greene County Economic Development Corporation (GCEDC), Purdue Extension, Sheriff’s Department, Assessor, Soil and Water, Coroner and County Clerk’s Office.
Chief Probation Officer Mike Pate of the Greene County Probation Department was first to present his budget to the council.
One area of contention came from salaries of the probation officers.