County Council Set to Discuss 2023 Budget

Hamilton County Councilors, the financial stewards of Hamilton County government, will host two days of budget hearings at the Judicial Center starting today at 8:00 a.m. They will work to set a budget of just under $100 million for the 2023 fiscal year.

“It’s a big budget. It’s a big operation,” Council President Steve Schwartz says. “Our biggest expenses are salaries and benefits for the 800+ County employees as well as highway improvement projects.”

The Council will also be presented with budget requests from every department in the County. 

“The work starts many months before these dates as the departments lay out a plan for their departments,” Council Vice President Ken Alexander says. “One thing that we changed this year is building in equipment obsolescence and maintenance planning.  This type of planning during the budget process is one of the many ways Hamilton County attained the designation as the only Indiana County with AAA bond rating.”

Once approved, the budget will be sent to the State of Indiana for approval before going into effect Jan. 1, 2023.