Boone County Council approves $50,000 transfer to pay IT assessment contract, plans reimbursement

Boone County Council voted Wednesday to transfer $50,000 from the county’s food-and-beverage fund into a contracts line to pay an IT assessment contract that county staff said had already been performed.

Commissioner Tim Beyer described the paperwork trail: the payment had originally been planned for American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding but was moved at year-end to highway accounts. Beyer said the contract was completed and “the 50,000 was always intended to pay for this excess contract.”

Council members debated three options — using food-and-beverage, riverboat or CCD funds — and whether the county could treat the transfer as a temporary loan pending reimbursements. County legal and financial staff advised that transferring from food-and-beverage is the “easier transactional way” while moving riverboat funds would require a public hearing and an additional appropriation.

Councilman (speaker 1) moved to transfer the $50,000 from the food-and-beverage fund to the contracts line and to reimburse that transfer with amounts received from the Indianapolis Art Museum; the motion was seconded and carried by roll call vote with all members present voting aye.

The council did not adopt a detailed repayment schedule at the meeting; staff said reimbursement would occur when contractual reimbursements are received and that the auditor’s office would track the source of incoming funds.

What happens next: The council approved the transfer and expects the auditor and commissioners to oversee any subsequent reimbursement from museum or settlement proceeds.