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Mayor’s request to retroactively fund warming-center invoice withdrawn after county attorney cites SBOA rules
Summary
Mayor asked council to approve a $15,000 appropriation to cover a late-December warming-center invoice; the county attorney said SBOA guidance and council rules bar reviving a request already voted down within 12 months, and the mayor withdrew the motion to pursue other funding routes.
Mayor Brandon Sackman asked the Vigo County Council to approve an additional appropriation (about $15,000) to address an unencumbered invoice for warming-center services provided at the end of the calendar year.
Sackman said the city could not present a contract or invoice before year-end and therefore the funds were not encumbered; "Long story short... the invoice there was no invoice or contract," Sackman said as he described the difficulty of encumbering funds in a 48-hour window before the new year.
The county attorney advised the council that State Board of Accounts guidance and local rules bar re-approving an appropriation that had been previously denied within a 12-month period and that changing the dollar amount slightly would not resolve the legal issue. "It says you cannot once something has been denied... you have 12-month waiting period... adding $1 doesn't do that," the attorney said.
Council members discussed alternative routes the mayor could pursue, including asking the county commissioners to use community or LIT funds or seeking private contributions from local nonprofits; Sackman said roughly $7,500 of the estimated $15,000 was already covered and community groups had indicated willingness to help. After extended discussion about potential legal exposure and process, the mayor withdrew the motion and said he would confer with the commissioners and community partners to resolve the invoice.
No formal council appropriation for the warming center was adopted at the meeting. The county attorney recommended alternative approaches rather than attempting to circumvent the SBOA guidance.
What’s next: The mayor said he will contact the commissioners and return with a funding plan; council members asked staff to review whether inclusion in the next year’s budget process would avoid the 12-month limitation on a re-vote.
