Vigo County budget committee approves pay, staffing changes and shifts request toward opioid settlement fund

The Vigo County budget committee on Oct. 12 approved a package of staffing and pay changes, denied one funding request and voted to shift a previously proposed County General allocation toward an opioid settlement fund while discussing use of settlement dollars for a family-court intervention program.

Judge Reddy, who described a family-focused court program that uses a family court navigator and early intervention, told the committee the work is aimed at children’s emotional and mental welfare and long-term reductions in juvenile and jail populations. “I think it’s just we’re trying to focus on the emotional welfare of these children,” Judge Reddy said. He added the program requires patience: “You’re gonna have to wait a good 10, 12, 15 years, and that’s when you’re gonna start to see the impact.”

Committee members discussed funding options during the meeting, including using opioid settlement dollars for counseling and related services. County staff said they would confirm legal permissibility before finalizing a transfer; the record shows County legal/staff review by Michael Wright was referenced but not resolved during the session.

Most of the meeting’s formal votes addressed personnel and pay items. The committee unanimously approved a motion to move all building maintenance positions to 40-hour schedules (a change discussed as moving from a 35-hour basis to 40 hours). Members also voted to change Ricky Hammond’s pay grade to Grade 16 so the maintenance supervisor’s pay remains above an assistant supervisor’s pay after the schedule adjustment; the motion was seconded and approved.

The committee voted to grant a 3% cost-of-living increase to part-time deputy prosecutors; the motion passed after a member moved and another seconded. In parks, the committee approved a manager-recommended pay structure that raises five identified part-time positions to $18 per hour while setting seasonal/extra-help roles to $15 per hour (the manager had asked that only five part-time positions be moved to $18 given budget and staffing categories).

The committee declined a separate request for an additional $10,000 to the sheriff’s sale fund; a motion to deny that extra $10,000 passed with no recorded dissent. Later in the meeting the committee voted to remove a $100,000 request from County General and instead fund that request from an opioid settlement fund; the transcript refers to putting “the full $2.50” into one of those opioid funds, a phrase that is not clear in the record and whose numeric meaning was not specified in the meeting discussion.

Committee members also confirmed a change to part-time health insurance credit for certain part-time employees to $818. Several staff and members noted complexities in applying raises to part-time and salaried positions because some positions are paid by a state schedule or set salary rather than by hourly rates; one member said the state sets the pay level for certain deputy prosecutors and that the county’s actions were limited to cost-of-living adjustments where permissible.

Judge Reddy described program operations: initial social work contact funded in part by a Supreme Court grant to engage families before hearings, triage of high-conflict cases and a family court navigator who helps participants access services and follow through on appointments. “Once they get better, they don’t come back to court,” Judge Reddy said of participants, citing the navigator’s role.

The committee recessed at the end of the meeting and said further budget work would be announced separately.

Ending details: the committee recorded votes and instructions for staff to verify legal permissibility of using opioid settlement dollars, and several members emphasized the long timeline for social-program effects on jail and juvenile populations.