Perry County animal control board asks county staff to clarify how donated money can be held and spent

Jim, a member of the Perry County Animal Control Board, told Perry County Commissioners on Oct. 21 that the board has about $3,000 remaining in its current-year resources and no county allocation in the draft budget for next year. He asked the auditor and county attorney to clarify how the board may accept donations and whether the county must establish a formal fund or a separate account to receive and spend donated monies.

The request came during the meeting's public-comment period. Jim said the board faces a transition year that limited planning and spending and that the board plans to vote next week on how to spend the remaining money before it is lost at year-end. He said the board needs “the green light for us to go and start these specific objectives” and asked if the auditor could “set up this account” so the board could legally accept and track donations.

Commissioners and staff discussed the county’s usual process for accepting and recording outside funds. A county official explained that, under the Indiana Code and county practice, establishing a county fund typically requires a specific ordinance and that budget and accounting rules determine whether monies must go through the county treasury and budget process. The official said the county’s financial system uses “fund, account and location” codes that determine where receipts and expenditures are posted and that some receipts require routing through the budget process.

A different commissioner said they did not support creating additional accounts in the auditor’s office because of workload and the county’s recent budget cuts. The official and other commissioners suggested two alternatives mentioned in the discussion: (1) donors could route contributions through an outside 501(c)(3) such as the local humane society, which has more flexibility, or (2) the county attorney and auditor could review whether a county fund or a separate county account should be created for the animal control board’s donations.

By the end of the discussion, commissioners directed staff to run the question past the county attorney and to have legal counsel review the ordinance language referenced by the animal control board. The meeting record shows no formal vote to create a fund at the Oct. 21 meeting.

The animal control board representative also said the board planned to meet next week to decide how to spend remaining resources and to develop fundraising plans for 2026, noting the board had previously sought a county fund and had received unanimous support from the board to pursue it.

The commissioners’ next regular meeting was announced for Monday, Nov. 3, 2025, at 9 a.m.