Kosciusko County Administrator Marsha McSherry (right) discusses budget issues Thursday, Aug. 25. Pictured from left are County Council members Mike Long, Joni Truex, Sue Ann Mitchell, Jon Garber and Kimberly Cates. Photo by David Slone, Times-Union.

By David Slone
InkFreeNews

WARSAW –  Legal services expenditures continue to be a bit of an issue between the Kosciusko County Council and Commissioners as was evident at the Council’s day-long budget review session Thursday. 

As part of their county cumulative capital development (CCD) fund for the 2023 budget, the Commissioners proposed $100,000 for legal services, an increase of $39,680 over the 2022 adopted budget of $60,320. 

At the Council’s Sept. 9, 2021, meeting, the Council voted to increase the County Commissioners’ legal services budget for county attorney Ed Ormsby only by 4% to $60,320 in 2022. The Commissioners had requested $131,000 for legal services for 2022, saying the previous county attorneys underbilled the county. Ormsby began as county attorney Jan. 1, 2021.

The 2023 budget was presented by County Administrator Marsha McSherry and Commissioner Cary Groninger Thursday.

After the Council and McSherry discussed money in the CCD fund for legal services for the unsafe building law, Councilwoman Joni Truex said, “So, let’s go back to the elephant in the room, the legal services. I think that’s the elephant in the room. So, last year was $60,000, this year we’re looking at $85,000 if you do the $5,000 per month for the remaining five months.”

At the Council’s Aug. 11 meeting, they approved a transfer of $15,000 for legal services for the Commissioner’s budget and $5,000 per month for the rest of the year. 

Sue Ann Mitchell clarified on Thursday that in 2022, the amount that was spent was $60,000 plus an additional appropriation of $50,000 plus $10,000 that was built into the 2022 budget. McSherry pointed out that some of those funds were for 2021. 

In January 2022, the Council approved 4-3 a transfer of $63,000 in the CCD Fund from land and improvements to legal services for Ormsby’s 2021 bill. 

Kimberly Cates, a Councilwoman, said the balance paid just this year is $140,530. 

Councilman Mike Long asked what exactly the money was going to be used for because most of the county departments now have their own legal counsel or have been appropriated money to use.

Cary Groninger said, “We’re still keeping the highway department underneath ours. We have a lot going on with them right now between 1300 North, trying to get the last of those parcels acquired, and then also, it’s just ongoing. Any sort of accident that happens pretty much they name the county, the highway department, the Commissioners and sometimes the Council to those suits. Most of that is handled by our insurance, but still there’s legal counsel that is needed in-house to make sure the information we’re sending them is prepared and gathered.”

He said there’s a lot of things that happen on a yearly basis, whether that’s looking at contracts or the fraud the county experienced earlier this year that cost more than $300,000. 

“There’s just things that are constantly there in today’s, sad to say, litigious world. There’s always something that you’re needing good counsel to be able to represent the county and do our best to keep us on good footing from a legal perspective,” Cary said. 

Long responded, “I quite frankly think there’s been some things that have been brought to the county attorney that he’s been spending time on that were really not important to the operation of the county, as far as your sanctuary counties, your different things through the pandemic. Are we beyond that now?”

Some of the special projects Ormsby worked on in 2021 for the Commissioners included the county being a Constitutional Sanctuary County and a Second Amendment Sanctuary County.

“Yeah. As far as I’m concerned, maybe you guys have a different opinion of that, but this year we’ve not done anything in that realm at all. We’re trying to move forward from those areas that there were some concerns with, but at the same token, we can’t predict what the next gremlin is going to be or we’re faced with. There’s just a lot of different things that can happen,” Cary said. 

Councilwoman Kathleen Groninger said that since the Highway Department has requested $30,000 for legal services for 2023, since they’re going to be under the Commissioners’ budget, “that we consider moving the $30,000 the Highway Department has requested and add it to the Commissioners line item.”

Truex said the Highway Department withdrew its request. 

Cary said it made sense to keep the Highway Department’s legal services in the Commissioners’ budget since the Commissioners are approving all the ordinances and contracts for the Highway Department. 

Long asked if the $100,000 budget request then for 2023 was for the Commissioners and Highway then. Cary said, “Pretty much, yes.” 

Kathleen said if the Highway Department feels it’s going to need $30,000 for legal services for 2023, that should be added to what they’re going to allot for the Commissioners’ budget. 

Truex said she would have thought the Commissioners’ original request would have included the Highway Department’s needs, and Cary said it did, so additional funds don’t need to be added. 

Truex said if the Council looked at what it allocated last year and the $5,000 per month for the rest of this year, that equals $85,000. She made a motion to cap legal services at $85,000 for 2023, and Long said that should be for “as long as billing remains current.” The Council expects legal services billing to be received by the 15th of every month. 

Kathleen Groninger said, “I just feel like, since they’ve already spent $140,000, I know approximately $10,000 was from last year, we’re just hamstringing it. We’re just going to end up with the same problem in a year from now … And all of the stuff I know everybody was angry about, as far as the sanctuary city and all of that stuff, that all happened not this year but the year before, so I feel like we shouldn’t even really be talking about that.”

Cates then seconded Truex’s motion for the $85,000. Cary said $85,000 would be “really, really tight.”

Long said he kind of averaged the legal services out to $7,500 a month, which is $90,000 for 2023. “If we have a major problem down the road, then we can talk,” he said.

Mitchell said if the Commissioners have a major problem down the road, they could come back to the Council and do what they did before and ask for a transfer of funds but no additional appropriations. 

“And, I’m just going to say it, the unfortunate thing is that other departments have to live within their budgets. I realize legal is a little bit of a different animal, but it’s become a different animal because of the choices that were made. I’m just leaving it there,” Mitchell stated. 

Truex’s motion for $85,000 failed by a vote of 3-3 with Councilman Ernie Wiggins abstaining since he was late to the meeting and missed most of the discussion. 

Long made a motion for $90,000 for legal services in the Commissioners’ CCD fund and Councilman Jon Garber seconded it. It was approved 4-2, with Wiggins abstaining.