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Commissioners weigh using criminal-justice and special-purpose funds to cover jail, courthouse and capital costs
Summary
Commissioners reviewed balances in special-purpose criminal-justice funds and a roughly $25 million special-purpose balance, discussed legal limits on moving funds, and considered using fund balances for jail repairs, radios and other equipment to reduce burden on the levy.
Elkhart County commissioners reviewed the balances and allowable uses of special-purpose funds and discussed shifting some courthouse and corrections costs away from the general levy.
During the session staff noted a balance described in the record as approximately $25,273,463.82 in a special-purpose account (referred to in the meeting as a "special purpose" or jail-related balance) and described an active criminal-justice quarter-percent local income tax that has produced an excess balance in recent years. Staff said the quarter-percent criminal-justice revenue was created in the early 2000s and that the statute language allows Elkhart County to use that revenue for criminal-justice facilities and related items while the bonds are outstanding.
Commissioners discussed concrete examples: county staff confirmed a boiler repair at the jail was funded in part from the jail fund and in part from capital funds; radios for emergency management were discussed as a capital purchase that staff hoped would be largely grant-funded but that the budget had a placeholder in case grants did not materialize. Commissioners said where equipment and facility items are legitimately tied to criminal-justice operations (for example, locks, radios and some corrections equipment), it may be appropriate and lawful to charge them to the criminal-justice fund rather than the general levy, subject to the fund’s statutory limitations.
Commissioners also discussed courthouse bond payments, the required reserve that holds roughly one year’s bond payment, and timing of when bond obligations (for jail and courthouse) decline. Some commissioners urged caution about drawing down capital funds that may be needed for building retrofit costs tied to consolidations or courthouse renovations.
The board directed staff to provide legal clarifications about allowable uses for each special-purpose fund and a schedule showing which capital or equipment items could legally be charged to those funds. Staff also agreed to give a breakdown of the specific fund balances and the amount already committed in next meeting materials.
