WILMINGTON — Commissioners on Wednesday approved a $14.5 million General Fund budget for 2017, a figure close to the budget passed last year.
There was discord, however, prior to the commissioners adopting the appropriations budget when Clinton County Auditor Terry Habermehl questioned what he described as the commissioners’ removal of information technology (IT) support from his department’s budget.
According to an email statement from Habermehl after the budget vote, “The people elected me to manage the auditor’s office, but the commissioners have effectively taken the ability to protect this [IT] network out of my hands. Based on their actions, they removed my authority to make decisions regarding my office,” Habermehl wrote.
“I believe the recordings of their budget work sessions will reveal that the commissioners did not expose any other department or elected official to the level of scrutiny for IT support that my budget endured. This leads me to believe the decision was politically motivated rather than monetary,” the county auditor stated.
There currently are two IT support vendors for Clinton County government departments: the Miami Valley Educational Computer Association (MVECA) and HCH Enterprises.
Clinton County Commissioner Kerry R. Steed said Wednesday it is time for the county to re-assess its computer IT support situation in order to bring about the best use of taxpayer dollars.
One way to do that, he said, is “migrating away from” HCH Enterprises’ guaranteed $5,000 per-month contract to an hourly basis which, he added, would be more beneficial in the long run to the county.
The plan that’s emerged from discussions on the topic, said Steed, is to utilize MVECA.
The county budget passed Wednesday calls for $10,000 for the county auditor’s IT support needs so that during the first two months of 2017 Habermehl can come up with a plan going forward, added Steed.
Habermehl stated, “HCH Enterprises has been an excellent partner and has consistently provided support that goes above and beyond what is required in the contract, and any insinuation made by Commissioners Steed and Curry to the contrary is dishonest and a disservice to Henry Hodge and his staff.”
During the commissioners meeting discussion Wednesday, Clinton County Commissioner Mike Curry said the county cannot continue to pay two vendors “for practically the same thing,” adding “so we need to get it together.”
Clinton County Commissioner Patrick Haley said, “I’m not pleased with the overall IT situation in Clinton County [government offices]. We’re a small county; we’ve never had the money to really do what we needed to do [on IT] and I think we just find ourselves in a situation that we’re going to have to address next year.”
Clinton County Sheriff Ralph Fizer Jr., for his part, is happier with the approved 2017 budget. During an October budget planning meeting with commissioners, the sheriff, pointing to the loss of deputies to other counties that pay more, asked that pay rates go up for Clinton County deputies.
The newly passed budget will enable him to give a one-time pay adjustment to deputies, Fizer said Wednesday.
He noted that in getting this done during budget talks with commissioners, he agreed not to replace one deputy position, and instead of four new cruisers in 2017, the sheriff’s office will get three new cruisers.
The pay increase that’s now possible is a good first step, said Fizer, adding the pay scale for deputies will still not be where it should be. He said he’s grateful to commissioners for the extra dollars, mentioning Steed made a lot of phone calls trying to work something out.
Of the 2017 General Fund budget, Haley said commissioners kept in mind the effect upon the county’s revenue stream of a new lower county sales tax rate.
“Fortunately we were able to continue to maintain a fine level of service and still give tax relief to the citizens,” said Haley.
Also Wednesday, commissioners approved a tax abatement for Allen Colorcraft within Blanchester, a company in the promotional products industry that’s known for its mugs, bottles and hydration packs. The tax break is on new construction — a planned 112,000 cubic feet expansion for manufacturing, and a 5,000 additional square feet for warehousing and receiving operations.
Terms of the agreement call for a 75 percent abatement of property tax on the expanded part of the facility for 10 years.
Commissioners were told the hope is the new space will enable the hiring of 12 to 25 new workers at the business.
Reach Gary Huffenberger at 937-556-5768.
