Council approves salary and appropriation ordinances, including probate court staffing increases

The Saint Joseph County Council approved multiple fiscal and salary ordinances on Nov. 12, including a salary amendment tied to a grant and staffing changes for the probate court.

Bill 85-25: The council approved an amendment to the salary ordinance to allow the auditor to use IPAC grant funds to support a part-time employee at a cost of $5,703.75. The item had previously been reviewed in committee; the council voted 8-1 to adopt the ordinance after discussion about petitioner absence and committee practice.

Bill 86-25 (Probate Court): Judge Laura Sabia and counsel James Masters presented two requests: increasing a juvenile referee's time (an additional $24,000) to pick up other juvenile and dependency dockets, and expanding another referee into a senior-adviser role with an additional $20,000. Masters said the funds are already appropriated and the requests do not increase total appropriation, but they require council approval because the positions draw from multiple funding sources. After clarifying questions about vacancies and fund balances, the council approved the bill 9-0.

Bill 84-25: The council also passed an ordinance appropriating and transferring monies for county departments (Bill 84-25). The body moved directly to public comment because fiscal matters had been discussed at an October committee meeting; the measure passed 9-0.

What to watch: Implementation of the probate-court staff increases, including filling vacancies and monitoring budget neutrality, and follow-up committee reports on the use of grant funding and reimbursements (Notre Dame reimbursement for the IPAC grant was noted).