Ken de la Bastide: Ken de la Bastide column: County takes step in right direction for future budget processes

Ken de la Bastide, The Herald Bulletin, Anderson, Ind.
·2 min read

Feb. 17—Outgoing Madison County Council President Ben Gale has proposed an outline for the 2025 budget process which is aimed at avoiding the problems from last year.

Last year, Gale and Council President Rob Steele met with officials in the Auditor's Office to create the 2024 budget. Other council members were invited to send email suggestions, an offer that may or may not have been accepted.

When the budget was presented for adoption, council members not involved in the discussions raised objections, which resulted in a seven-hour meeting.

During that meeting, the council went through each departmental budget.

The initial problem was that, when the 2024 budget was presented for final adoption, the public and other elected officials were kept in the dark as to where $2 million in cuts were made.

At the November meeting, Gale stated that the council failed during the budget process.

Councilwoman Jodi Norrick said three council members worked with Gardner on the budget.

"We need a written process for creating a budget next year," Gale said.

As promised, Gale presented a written proposal on the 2025 budget process and asked the other six council members to have recommendations at the March meeting.

One of the proposals presented by Gale would have each council member assigned to review the 2025 budget of all county departments.

This should have been done on an annual basis.

It will be interesting to see which council members are assigned to the various departments, since Norrick's husband, Scott, is a judge.

Councilwoman Diana Likens should probably not be asked to review the commissioners' budget since her mother-in-law, Darlene, is a commissioner.

Although Gale and Councilman Anthony Emery are both not seeking re-election this year, the outline for future county budgets should be adopted on an annual basis.

All seven council members should have input on budget proposals with the county auditor and the other elected officials and department heads.

The public should also be able to view the budget process starting with the two days set aside to review the budget requests and, of course, during the public hearing.

Every taxing unit handles budget discussions in differing manners.

In Anderson, the council conducts two days of budget hearings with the city administration and then there is a public hearing before adoption takes place.

With millions of dollars being spent, transparency throughout the budget process is crucial.

A written policy for the county is a step in the right direction and should be adhered to in future years.

Senior Reporter Ken de la Bastide's column publishes Saturdays. Contact him at ken.delabastide@heraldbulletin.com or 765-640-4863.