The White County Budget Committee met in a special-call session to review multiple budget scenarios and discuss how pennies in the property tax levy would be distributed among county general, school, highway and debt-service funds. Committee members said they were inclined to advance a modified version of the “original” scenario and asked staff to convert the proposal into a formal resolution for the full commission to review Monday.

Committee staff presented five scenarios labeled “original,” A, B, C and D. The options vary primarily in two dimensions: changes to the county pay scale (a roughly $1/hour adjustment across many grades) and whether to fund 10 positions requested by departments (including EMS and sheriff’s patrol positions). The scenarios also assume different allocations of tax “pennies” across funds: county general, county capital, general purpose school, highway/public works and debt service.

Why it matters: the proposals affect both county operations (raises, new positions, one-time capital items) and homeowner tax bills. Presenters used a residential example to show how reappraisals and the chosen tax rate would change bills. Under the example given, a homeowner’s annual bill could rise by roughly $118 at one baseline estimate and by about $304 if a higher overall levy is used; committee members repeatedly noted that these are estimates and tied to yet-to-be-certified rates and appraisals.

Details of the scenarios: the staff summary showed county-general tax rates under each option with the “original” scenario showing county general at about $1.23. Option A reduced the pay scale across many positions and removed funding for roughly 10 requested positions (5 EMS, 4 sheriff, 1 county buildings); option B restored the per-hour dollar increase but kept the 10 positions unfunded; option C kept the positions and removed about $1/hour from pay; and option D converted requests into a 3% cost-of-living increase plus a longevity payment without the full pay-scale changes. Committee members emphasized that large reductions in pay or in positions would both materially cut the budget but have different operational impacts.

Penny allocations and capital: the original scenario also contemplated a four-cent allocation held in county general for capital or to be moved later to debt service if needed. Committee discussion focused on whether to move some of those cents immediately to debt service (to capture current interest earnings) and whether to shift pennies to highway/public works to cover projected raise costs in that department. One working compromise discussed was moving two cents from the school allocation into highway/public works and moving two cents from the reserved county capital into debt service while leaving the total county levy unchanged.

Next steps: committee members asked staff to draft a formal resolution reflecting the committee’s modified “original” package and present it to the full board in a Monday meeting. No formal vote to adopt a final budget occurred at the special-call session; committee members agreed to reconvene the material for full-court review and a possible vote later in the budget process.

Ending: staff will prepare a resolution that captures the committee’s preferred allocations and the spreadsheet adjustments discussed; the full White County Commission will see the proposal at the next scheduled meeting for final action or revision.