KOSCIUSKO COUNTY — A short meeting took place Thursday evening, Aug. 27, in which the county council reviewed and approved several budget changes to take place next fiscal year.

Three topics were discussed, including the solid waste budget, the Plain Township budget and the county budget.

The solid waste budget was brought to the council by Shelly Heckert, who reported a six percent increase from last year. There are two main reasons for this increase. The first is the increased price to recycle television sets.

Recycling television sets has become more expensive because so many are being recycled and can cost up to $30 to recycle. Heckert asked for a budget increase so there would be no charge to citizens. As of right now, it is currently mandatory to recycle old television sets.

The second reason for the increase in budget is raises for one of the full-time positions in the solid waste department and a new part-time position, which is usually a work-release position. The salary rose to $24,664, which is a three percent increase.

The council approved the solid waste budget change.

Plain Township Trustee Jerry Kammerer was at the meeting to present the budget to the council concerning two volunteer firefighters. There was not a change in budget, but they had to be approved by the council.

The council approved the Plain Township budget.

The committee finally addressed the wage committee and recommended a one percent increase in budget for county officials, both full- and part-time. The one percent increase will amount to $121,630.52. This decision was made in conjunction with the department heads in Kosciusko.

The goal of the increase is not to make a blanket raise decision, but to allow the department heads to give raises based on evaluations of their employees. The recommendation would give employees incentive to be hard workers, since their pay would be based on how well they are doing their job.

In addition to the increases, Brad Tandy brought forth seven new positions that the county officials and department heads deem essential to continuing to operate efficiently. There will be one new position in the assessor’s office, one in the county clerk office, four new work-release positions in the sheriff’s office and one new position in the treasurer’s office.

This motion was approved.

These budget changes were approved Aug. 27, but the county will not adopt them until the next regular meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 10.