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Spencer County Fiscal Court approves first reading of FY2019–2020 budget, debates pay raises and software purchase
Summary
The Fiscal Court approved the first reading of the FY2019–2020 budget after adding projected prior-year surplus and reserves to allow for possible market-rate pay adjustments; the court also considered a $39,985 Fiscalsoft software quote and asked for vendor/IT briefings before purchase.
The Spencer County Fiscal Court approved the first reading of its FY2019–2020 budget on May 20, voting to increase the projected prior-year surplus and reserve transfers to create flexibility for potential pay adjustments and equipment purchases.
Judge John Riley proposed increasing the prior-year surplus projection from $290,000 to $490,000 and boosting the reserves-for-transfer amount by $200,000. He said the adjustments were intended to allow the court to consider "market increases" for road department salaries and to create room to make across-the-board pay adjustments if the court later decides to do so. Magistrate M. Moody asked for caution and proposed reallocation suggestions for the road department budget; the judge said specific pay changes would be handled separately as transfers or future ordinances.
The court also reviewed a vendor quote from Fiscalsoft for accounting/payroll/financial software totaling $39,985 for FiscalBooks, FiscalPay and FiscalExpress licenses. Magistrates asked the vendor and county IT staff to present technical details — including server compatibility and training requirements — before the court committed to the purchase. The judge noted the county's current software is incompatible with Windows 10 and that the county's IT staff has spent substantial time attempting fixes.
County Clerk Lynn Hesselbrock requested several line-item additions and adjustments, which the court added during the first-reading approval: a $4,750 line for computer upgrades, increased office-expense funding and higher training/travel budget for the clerk's office tied to planned software changes.
What happens next: the first reading was approved and will require a second (and final) reading/adoption; the court requested vendor and IT briefings before any final software purchase and retains authority to make any pay or personnel decisions by separate motions or transfers.
Sources: Fiscal Court minutes, vendor quote form provided in the meeting packet and budget ordinance documents presented at the May 20 meeting.
