WARSAW — The Kosciusko County Council spent nearly two and one-half hours on Monday, Aug. 20, hearing from department heads as each supervisor spelled out their budget requests for 2019.

The council heard from approximately 25 department heads and elected officials regarding 76 line items. The council’s total requested budget for 2019, prior to Monday’s hearing, was $44,216,227, up from the adopted 2018 budget of $41,481,626.

On Thursday, Aug. 23, an advertised public hearing will be held for the Solid Waste Management District budget as well as the Kosciusko County government budget. During that hearing, the council will review the sewer district’s budget and process any additional items for the county budget. Both budgets are scheduled for adoption on Sept. 13.

Many of the departments turned in budget requests similar to the 2018 fund allotment, with several making cuts and some adding items to their budget.

Council President Sue Ann Mitchell remarked about the significance of department heads conducting “self-editing” in terms of budget control to avoid the council from having to be heavy handed on behalf of the taxpayers.

“Tom [Anglin] and I were just talking recently that we remember a time when headlines used to say things like ‘County Council slashes budget,’” Mitchell said, adding that with individual leaders showing fiscal responsibility, the seven-person panel has less need to make cuts.

Prior to entering into the daunting task of forming the budget for next year, two key committees were formed — the Strategic Plan Committee and the Wage Committee. County Auditor Michelle Puckett monitored both committees as they studied, in-depth, each county entity with the goal of making an informed fiscal decision.

“Thanks to Michelle and her staff for all their efforts to make this budget a comprehensive process by providing the data needed to make an educated decision,” said Mitchell. “Thanks to each of those department heads and elected officials in the audience for the time that you put in studying your budget and trying to get it paired down to what you really need and fine-tuning. Teamwork is essential to make this process work. And, it seems to be working very well in the county.”