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 | Additional cuts on the table PLYMOUTH -- Raises are on the line. As is longevity, a sheriff's car and, as promised before, employees. After a full day of budget hearings Tuesday, the Marshall County Council offered some suggestions on how to get the 2006 general fund budget where it needs to be. Marshall County Auditor Jan Quivey estimated that over two days the County Council cut just more than $657,000 out of budget requests for 2006. Requests for the general fund budget total just more than $9.4 million. Council President Fred Lintner had said Monday he would like the board to cut about $900,000 to bring the 2006 general fund budget down to around $8.5 million. "I didn't see anything else in the general fund that would bring us down $200,000," council member Matt Hassel told the council. He said he would like to have a couple of weeks to think about cutting employee positions. Lintner said cutting the sheriff's request for one car and cutting the 2 percent raise requests would cut about another $100,000. Quivey figured eliminating longevity for a year out of the general fund would save the county more than $120,000. Longevity is a perk paid to employees based on the amount of time they have worked in the county. Council member Bill Gee likened longevity to a bonus for employees. While the County Council has continually indicated employee cuts are inevitable, the Marshall County Probation Department was able to acquire another probation officer. Chief Probation Officer Mary Jane Walsworth presented a mountain of information, including a workload study for her department. She tried to show her need for a new probation officer, with a base pay of just more than $27,000. Her plea seemed to work. "Let's say you proved your case," council member Ralph Booker said. "We have no money. Do you have another way to pay for this besides the general fund?" Walsworth said she did not have access to probation user fees, which could be used to pay for the position. The courts are the ones that stipulate what that money is used for. "We don't have the money," Gee said. "You need a plan B." Marshall Superior Court Judge Dean Colvin chimed in: "Well, slide over. Here comes plan B." Colvin said he recognizes Walsworth needs a position in her office. He proposed that salary and benefits for a new probation officer be paid from probation user fees in 2006 and 2007. Then he suggested the council fully fund the position beginning in 2008. He also suggested that an already existing probation officer's base salary be paid from probation user fees, as well, with the county paying for the benefits portion of the salary in 2006 and 2007. He asked that the county fully fund that position beginning in 2008. The council was seemingly agreeable to the request. It also seemed favorable to Colvin's suggestion to allow him to retain a secretary in his office that the council originally wanted to cut.
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