The Decatur County Council met on May 21, 2024, at 9 am.
The meeting began with the approval of the April meeting minutes. The Council approved Additionals & Transfers.
At 9:05 a.m. the Public Hearing for reducing the Special Purpose Jail Tax. The only public was Chris Ramey thanking the council members for seeing this through and lowering taxes. No other comments were made and the meeting was closed. The tax is being reduced from 0.65 to 0.60. The council members voted unanimously to pass this tax reduction.
The County Council members voted to unanimously approve an ordinance that would split up interest that is made from investments. When funds are invested, the interest goes to the County General Account. This ordinance will make sure that the interest earned goes back to the specific department funding that they used to get the interest.
Emily Verseman, Executive Director, and Felicia Wickey, Assistant, presented current numbers at the Community Healthcare Clinic. Emily said that they provide healthcare to the underinsured and uninsured. She also said that they also offer dental services to those at the Decatur County Detention Center. They are requesting funding for 2025. These funds come out of Gambling Boat Funds and are not taxpayer funds. Emily spoke about their hard work fundraising this year and trying to reach a goal of $20,000 to replace aged dental equipment in the office. They are currently at 30% of that goal with only 3 months of collecting.
Patty Hensley, Human Resource, presented two ordinances for approval. The first Ordinance 2024-7 details adopting Job Descriptions for all positions within the county. There are 75 of these job descriptions. This was approved unanimously by all Council Members. The second Ordinance 2024-8 details adopting a Job Classification System & Maintenance Plan. This details creating a Job Classification Job Compensation Committee to advise the Council when positions are added and job descriptions need changing. This committee will be Deanna Burkart, Danny Peters, and Ashley Hungate. Also 1 Commissioner, Decatur County Auditor, and Patty Hensley. This was unanimously approved by the council.
Following the Salary Study conversation, Danny Peters asked what the council wanted to do about releasing the Salary Study. Danny said, “It cost a lot of money and I believe we need to cut it loose for everyone to see.” The council discussed this and had different opinions. Deanna Burkart said, “If we are not going to release this today then we need to get a Compensation meeting scheduled and tell the public we will release this after the meeting. This way people know a date and not have to wait an undetermined amount of time.” They voted to delay releasing the study until the Compensation meeting is completed. All Council Members voted to delay, except for Danny Peters voting Nea, as he believed that it should be released now.
Bill Meyerrose, Sheriff, updated the Council on the approval from the Commissioners to switch food service vendors. Currently, the cost to feed inmates per meal is $1.43, and with the change to a new provider that will be reduced to $0.90 per meal. Switching vendors will also allow for better-quality food.
The County Council announced the following 2025 Budget Schedule:
August 19: Departments present budget request meeting beginning at 1 pm.
August 20: Regular meeting, followed by a budget workshop
September 17: Regular meeting, including Public Hearing for 2025 Budgets
October 15: Regular meeting, including Adoption of the 2025 Budgets.
All Budget Meetings are open to the public.
The meeting was adjourned.
