Commissioners defend proposed consulting and association dues as council questions value amid tight budgets

County Administrator Jeff Taylor and commissioners discussed a request in the commissioners’ budget to continue paying for RJL Consulting and membership dues to regional and national organizations during the 2026 budget hearings.

Taylor said the commissioners requested a professional-services line used in Indianapolis and elsewhere, tied to work on projects including the St. Joseph River dam project and other legislative matters. Commissioner Susie Weir argued that information provided through national associations — specifically the National Association of Counties (NACo) and association intelligence on federal infrastructure funding — has been useful in explaining legislative impacts to the county and providing leads for funding. "A lot of the information that comes through NACO is valuable," Weir said during the hearing.

Council members asked whether the roughly $72,000 consulting line (one council member framed it as a $72,000 expenditure) should be an appropriation or a line item and whether the county was getting sufficient return on the investment at a time when budgets are tight. Taylor and commissioners said the request could be debated and, if necessary, handled as a separate appropriation rather than embedded in the base budget.

The commissioners’ proposed budget also showed a notable increase in dues in 2025 driven in large part by MACOG/Maycog assessments. Councilors asked for an itemized breakdown of dues and an explanation of who currently attends association events.

No final decision was made; commissioners and councilors agreed to debate whether to keep the consulting line as a budgeted item or handle it via appropriation during further review.