Changing Of The Seasons In Hamilton County

By The Times of Noblesville | October 4, 2023

By: Mark Hall

Welcome to the Timesheet. This column is a report of work done on behalf of the people of Hamilton County. It’s to be informative too, a place to learn about projects and how our county government works.

As your employee, it’s important to me that you know what is being worked on as transparently as possible in government. You hired me as your County Councilman, and my hope is that you’ll choose to be informed by regularly reading this column, getting involved, and by asking questions. Council meetings are at 7:00 PM the first Wednesday of every month at the judicial center in downtown Noblesville. They are also available to watch online for those unable to attend in person. Here is where my time this past month has been spent, part one.

September in Indiana is known for the changing of the seasons, the excitement of football, cool evening winds and our thoughts beginning to turn to the holiday season. Except, if you work in Hamilton County Government. Inside your county offices September also means budget meetings. The fulfillment of months of budget planning by dozens of departments culminates in lots of buzz, presentations, needs analysis, questions, anxiety, justifications, and occasionally difficult conversations. This is where the rubber meets the road, the council sets the county tax rate, through a process of reviewing and approving the annual budget, it is one of the primary responsibilities of your county council. Once the budget is approved, detailed allocation of the funding gets approved at monthly meetings. The council reviews expenses against budgets for allocations and approval. It is a complete series of ongoing checks and balances. Some county government functions, like tourism, parks, and libraries, have their own tax rates. It is still the responsibility of the council to oversee these departments’ tax rates and spending. Here is a link to a handy reference from last year to check the breakdown on your property tax rates. Find the city, town, or township where you live, and you can see the detailed property tax percentages broken apart as you read the column.

https://www.hamiltoncounty.in.gov/DocumentCenter/View/16834/2021-pay-2022-Certified-Tax-Rate-Chart

As an example, if you lived in Noblesville last year you may be surprised to learn that your county tax rate is 0.27440 but your school tax rate is 1.33710. When it comes to our property taxes, every property can be unique with exceptions and deductions, but it strikes me as important to inform you that much less of your property taxes go towards county government services than most people think. Over the past ten years the county tax rate has gone from .3074 in 2013 to the present rate in 2021. The same rate continues to be in place to this date. As the volume and values of properties in the county have increased so has the county revenue.

As part of the budget approval process, every staff addition and every dollar requested was examined. All department budget requests were analyzed, including submittals for new personnel, benefits modifications, pay increases, facility renovations, highway projects and capital expenses. The review process included several rounds of department and line-item cost reviews by the entire council. Each subsequent round completed additional budget revisions. Frankly, it’s difficult to make these decisions individually, let alone as a group. Arriving at dozens of departments budgets requires a majority vote to obtain the council’s approval. Doing so while keeping in mind the bigger picture of the overall county budget is a difficult balancing act. With a submitted budget request that exceeded $272 million dollars, up nearly $50 million from 2023’s submitted budget request, it’s critical that we look closely at any reoccurring expense that exceeds the 8.7% growth in the county tax base. That is exactly what we did.

There is so much to report from last month, it’s broken down into two reports this time. This is my Timesheet, please look for my Overtime Timesheet published soon to get the remainder of last month’s report. There are several large projects in the queue, including expanding the Judicial Center, a new 911 Operations Center, the Wastewater treatment plant at Bakers Corner and a new Domestic Violence Shelter to name a few. My job is primarily the financial oversight of the county budget; however, it is important to understand the Board of Commissioners priorities and balance them with the stewardship of taxpayer dollars. That is the job, and I am excited to do the people’s business.

As a taxpayer myself, and listening to so many of you, our employers, it’s important for the taxpayers to have access to all the information you want. I work for you and although you may not choose to do a deep dive into what your County Council does, it’s important that you can always do so. Feel free to contact me at 317-832-1104 or mark.hall@hamiltoncounty.in.gov with questions, feedback or if you would like to talk about county business.

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The Overtime Timesheet

Welcome to the Overtime Timesheet. Last month was busy, out of respect for publishing brevity it made sense to break September’s time report in half. My Timesheet was previously published and here is my Overtime Timesheet.

This column is a report of work done on behalf of the people of Hamilton County. It’s to be informative too, a place to learn about projects and how our county government works.

Every department budget submitted was evaluated. When the smoke cleared and the job was done, we trimmed $5.4 million dollars from a requested budget of over $272 million dollars. This included approving roughly twenty-five new positions. The budget provides an average 7% increase for employee’s compensation, improvements in employee and retiree benefits, and it strengthened public safety in multiple areas.

I am pleased to report a balanced budget that includes a strong increase in your rainy-day fund, the first planned rainy-day budget contribution in a few years. The County tax rate will remain the same and we have a healthy AAA bond rating, which allows borrowing at the lowest rates possible. The budget will get final approval at the public meeting on October 16th and is subject to State Government approval from the Indiana Department of Local Government & Finance. The process is not easy or simple but is filled with the give and take that delivers a fiscally responsible budget for the taxpayers.

Time spent this month was largely consumed with the County 2024 budgeting process. We deal with a tremendous amount of data, money, personnel, and expectations. The 2024 budget included requested funding for over fifty new county employees, increases in benefits, salaries, retirement, and operational costs. In my view the first priority of government is public safety. As such, those departments got my attention first.

With the county tax base increasing 8.7%, any reoccurring expenses that increase annually beyond that percentage eventually become unsustainable. These must be scrutinized to properly manage reserves, our bond rating, debt, and our tax rate. The challenge becomes a balance of great services with the proper stewardship of taxpayer money. It’s walking a tightrope of sorts balancing the two.

This month, our in-person personnel committee meeting was cancelled. Personnel change requests will be voted on by the full council at our October 4th meeting. Our highway committee meeting provided updates on existing projects. We discussed several bridge projects. I was surprised to learn that we have 66 timber bridges across the county. Many of these bridges will need maintenance or replacement over the coming years. Highway projects require council sponsorship. Project details are reviewed in advance, sponsored, and then moved to votes at a subsequent full council meeting. This process, along with statutory regulations that govern procurement, are in place to ensure value and multiple checks and balances on behalf of the taxpayers. Highway project expenses are still high, but we think that some moderation in component costs has begun.

In addition to the County Council budget, public and committee meetings, September’s work included attending a Cicero town council public meeting, constituent’s meetings regarding county board appointments, HEPL, county services disputes and the councils proposed increase in the Homestead credit. This month’s work also included meetings on behalf of the Hamilton County Senior Center and Janus Development Center.

Of note this month were meetings with representatives of the Central Indiana Regional Development Authority and meetings with Daniel Shackle, the new director of the State of Indiana Department of Local Government and Finance. In addition, I was honored to represent the county in meetings with the Hamilton County Leadership Academy, at the Fishers State of the City luncheon, the Nickle Plate Arts 11th annual gala and the Silver Sneakers Champ Camp Gala.

This is my time sheet. This is where my time went during month nine. There are quite a few projects in the queue and while my job is primarily the financial oversight of the county budget it is important to understand the Board of Commissioners priorities and balance them with the stewardship of taxpayer dollars. That is the job, and I am excited to do the people’s business.

– Mark Hall is a successful businessman, husband, father and grandfather. He is serving his first term on the Hamilton County Council.

Posted in Columnists, Guest Columnist