Tippecanoe County auditor reports $1.02 million circuit-breaker revenue; proposes $3 million health-insurance set-aside

The Tippecanoe County auditor reported updated property-tax “circuit breaker” figures and proposed a $3 million set-aside for health insurance during the council’s May 13 meeting.

The auditor said the county had estimated a 5% impact from tax caps but the actual circuit-breaker impact came in at 3%, yielding $1,024,985. “So that gives us a new beginning net balance of $7,996,572,” the auditor said.

The auditor said granted appropriations to date total $58,236 and miscellaneous expenditures total $22,348, leaving an available appropriation of $7,915,988. The auditor also said the county has appropriation requests from the general fund totaling $202,500 and that non-property-tax revenues are 28.9% collected. The auditor told the council she added a $3,000,000 placeholder this year and next “to set aside for health insurance” and said she will bring forward a $3,000,000 appropriation request next month based on prior conversations.

The presentation was informational; no formal vote was required on the report itself. Council members asked no substantive follow-up questions recorded in the transcript.

The auditor additionally provided a fund-balance report for review and a summary of revenue-to-date. The treasurer later reported interest for April of $574,995.76 and that the general fund has realized $1,350,799 in interest year to date, representing about 28% of the forecasted budgeted interest.

The council will see the auditor’s formal appropriation request for the $3,000,000 health insurance set-aside at a future meeting when the item is formally posted for action.