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Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Ind. Courts - "Judge Nemeth issues 11th hour warning about St. Joseph County budget cuts"
Troy Kehoe reports today at WSBT South Bend in a long story that begins:
With a final budget vote less than 24 hours away, St. Joseph County leaders are facing a potential 11th hour change. Last week, they mandated nearly $1 million in cuts to dozens of county departments. Now, one department head says he may issue his own mandate if his funding isn't fully restored.Probate Court Judge Peter Nemeth also oversees St. Joseph County's Juvenile Justice Center, or JJC. Under the original budget proposed by county leaders, he says his two departments stood to see about $1.4 million in cuts, including the jobs of about 20 total employees.
But, during a series of budget workshops last week county leaders agreed to "restore" most of that funding, including at least 9 of those positions in areas directly related to inmate care like psychiatry. But, they still planned to cut out most of the JJC's building maintenance department.
Nemeth--who acknowledged that most of his spending allotment was "restored"--says his budget is still being "unfairly targeted."
"The cuts currently in place that are being recommended total around $450,000, which is one-half of the total amount that's being cut. I don't believe it's equitable if we're bearing half the total cost of the cuts. Our budgets have already been cut 20% in the last two years. This just adds to that, and unfortunately, our business is not declining," Nemeth said.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on October 27, 2009 09:33 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts