The 2025 budget requires Spending $122.5 millionIncluding self-managed funds, it was approved by the Monroe County council Monday night.

The vote was 5-1, with Marty Hawk dissenting. Cheryl Munson was absent due to illness.

As Councilman Geoff McKim noted, the 2025 spending plan is technically a “budget shortfall” for both the general fund and the PS LIT (public safety local income tax) fund.

Expenditures for the general fund outpaced revenue of $52.8 million by nearly $1 million. Expenses for the PS LIT fund exceeded revenue of $3.65 million by approximately $875,000.

However, McKim pointed out that the expected year-end returns (money allocated to the budget but not actually spent) will close the gap. Moreover, McKim stated that both of these funds have healthy reserves that will cover the deficit even if there is no return.

The projected operating fund balance for the general fund at the end of 2025 will be 46 percent of this year’s $53.9 million budget. The PS LIT operating fund balance at the end of 2025 is estimated to be 43 percent of this year’s $4.5 million budget.

But the county council could begin facing challenges early next year, starting with a new personnel management position it authorized Monday night that was not included in the 2025 budget. The council could also see requests from the sheriff’s department to increase deputy sheriff’s pay. significant salary increase Bloomington police officers will see next year.

The new position is for payroll management, attendance and benefits, with a salary range of $56,556 to $71,636. The vote on the new personnel management position was 4-2, with Hawk and McKim dissenting. Councilwoman Kate Wiltz also expressed reservations about creating the new position for the same reasons McKim and Hawk voted against; There is no identified funding source for the new position.

But Wiltz stopped voting to create the new job. He said he thought the personnel services department would function better with the addition of the position and felt he would ultimately support it once the funding source was determined. Since it would be up to the county council to determine the source, Wiltz did not want to waste staff and public time by postponing the decision to a future meeting.

The standard COLA (cost of living adjustment) for county employees this year is 3.2 percent.

A spreadsheet that Deputy Sheriff Phil Parker forwarded to the county council proposing a significant pay raise for sheriff’s deputies was mentioned Monday night but no action was taken. Parker’s proposal would increase the base salary for the lowest-paid officers by 2.9 percent from $72,768 and add a fixed amount of $12,000, for a total of $86,878.

Hawk said he thinks a pay increase for deputies is something the county council should consider to prevent sheriff’s deputies from transferring to the Bloomington police force.

Council President Trent Deckard disagreed, saying he understood that the effort to increase the pay of police officers in Bloomington was based on an effort to match the pay of county sheriff’s deputies.

Deckard said he reviewed some numbers with city office staff and concluded that deputy sheriff positions have increased by 31.7 percent between October 2022 and now. Deckard said it’s important to get accurate numbers and that the council should meet with sheriff Ruben Marté to determine priorities for the sheriff and other departments as the council looks forward to 2025.

Hawk’s opposition to the 2025 budget was based on what he described as a “different philosophy” from other council members. Hawk, the only Republican on the seven-member council, put it this way: “I’m more fiscally conservative than some, and that’s just the way I am, and I’m not going to change now.”

Wiltz said he agreed with many of the sentiments expressed by Hawk, adding, “I think maybe I’m more fiscally conservative than I’d like to admit.” Wiltz said he was a bit uncomfortable relying on returns to balance the budget by the end of the year.

Wiltz stated that a more appropriate way to move forward on this issue would be to make the budget more accurate, so that there is no significant return of unspent money at the end of the year. Wiltz said he hopes the issue of more accurate budgeting next year can be resolved earlier in the budgeting process.

Councilman Peter Iversen gave his full support to the budget, calling it “an important milestone in Monroe County’s forward journey.” “I believe this budget reflects our commitment to building a resilient community for our residents,” Iversen said.

Iversen said the most important asset in county government in the 2025 budget is “our dedicated county employees,” according to Iversen. He called the 3.2 percent increase a “meaningful cost-of-living adjustment.” Iversen called the hiring of an employee to work in the field of climate change a “bold step.”

Iversen also said the 2025 budget reflects the strong collaborative relationship between the council and department heads. He put it this way: “We couldn’t do this without department heads, and we are just the vehicle to make it happen.”

Iversen acknowledged that the 2025 budget does not address Monroe County’s housing shortage. Iversen also said the county needs to do more on climate action.

Deckard said the 2025 budget is “not perfect.” But Deckard said, “This is the budget we have, based on the timeline we have.” Deckard said that since he began serving on the county council in 2019, he has noticed that as soon as one year’s budget is adopted, the next year’s budget is already being developed.

Deckard put it this way: “As soon as this budget is completed – in fact, as we talked about This budget — Next “One is being made.”