Jun. 14—ANDERSON — Auditor Rick Gardner would like to eliminate the unfunded liability in the county's sheriff pension retirement fund.
Gardner told members of the Madison County Council on Tuesday that the county has an unfunded liability in the account of $7.75 million, which would cover retirement benefits for current employees.
He said the county is making an annual payment into the fund of $1.5 million and the interest rate on the unfunded liability is in excess of 6%.
Gardner said by paying off the unfunded liability amount the annual payment would be reduced to about $400,000 annually.
He said through the investments made by treasurer Dan Girt the county will earn between $3.5 million and $4 million this year.
The county currently has a general fund operating balance of $15.2 million, $7.8 million for the construction of a new jail and $2.8 million in the public safety fund.
The council approved an $800,000 appropriation into the county's Rainy Day fund raising the balance to $10.9 million.
Gardner said the $800,000 was a supplement payment from the state for local income tax collections.
"I would like to eliminate the unfunded liability in the sheriff's pension fund," he said. "I believe that goal can be achieved."
He said the interest being earned in the Rainy Day fund to date amounts of $110,833.
"The death penalty case is expected to cost between $500,000 and $1 million," Gardner said of the case involving the 2022 shooting of Elwood police officer Noah Shahnavaz.
The interest earned in the fund over the next two years should be able to cover the cost of the death penalty case, Gardner said
In other business, council president Rob Steele said the council will start work on the 2024 budget in July.
He said the council will review spending in 2021, 2022 and 2023 to establish the proposed 2024 budget.
"The line item spending will be used as a target for next year's budget," Steele said. "A decision on a salary increase will be considered in September."
The goal, he said, is to establish a realistic budget for 2024 and reduce the number of transfer requests in the departmental budgets.
"Each department will be asked to provide detailed requests for additional funding," Steele said.
The council will conduct a public hearing on the 2024 budget on Sept. 12 and take final action at the Oct. 10 meeting.
The 2024 budget has to be adopted by Nov. 1.
Follow Ken de la Bastide on Twitter @KendelaBastide, or call 765-640-4863.