The Washington County Clerk of Courts office might not have enough money to make its payroll, after county commissioners decided to reject the use of money from an account outside of the county budget.
The office needs roughly $41,000 to make the rest of the payrolls for the year in its legal division. Clerk of Courts Judy Van Dyk proposed emptying an excess revenue account to cover it, but commissioners said Thursday they would not approve that approach, because the money came from the title division.
"She's got to come up with some additional money," Commissioner Sam Cook said.
In mid-September, it came to light that the clerk of courts office was running out of money in the legal division salary line item and might not have enough to pay its employees for the reminder of the year. Van Dyk came up with the remaining money by taking more than $19,000 from a certificate of deposit put in a local bank before she was elected in 1996 and more than $58,000 from an excess revenue account.
The line item was running low because Van Dyk gave her employees raises beyond the 3 percent increase approved by commissioners at the beginning of the 2008 fiscal year. Van Dyk said she gave the raises to bring the salaries of her employees closer to that of counties of similar size and because employees of the Common Pleas and Juvenile/Probate courts were given raises beyond 3 percent after the judges mandated it with a court order.
About two weeks ago, the commissioners approved the $19,000 from the CD, but did not approve the $58,000. Cook said the money in the account comes from the title division and should be used for the title division.
"I don't really understand why that is," Van Dyk said. "We do give a considerable amount of money from the title office into the general fund every year."
Van Dyk said her options included using the rest of the money from the CD, nearly $25,000, or borrowing money from other departments. However, she said she doubted any other departments had money to spare.
The money needs to be in place by Oct. 17, the end of the county's next two-week pay period.
In August, the commissioners moved money from several accounts back into the general fund after they were told by the auditor the county was not bringing in as much revenue as expected.
They did this with the help of the budget commission by reviewing the hundreds of line items in the county budget and finding money that could be spared. Cook said they could do this again if they had to, but he was unsure if there was any money left.
There have also been questions raised about the CD money.
Commissioners received a letter from Common Pleas Judge Ed Lane which stated that the CD may have been set aside for a court case and, if so, could not be withdrawn without a court order. By the time they received the letter, however, the commissioners had already approved its use.
"I believe there should be some kind of record out there as to why this money was put into a CD" Van Dyk said. "From the information I have, there are no cases out there."
County auditor Bill McFarland said he spoke with the local government representatives from the state auditor's office and was told it is the responsibility of the elected official in charge of the department, in this case, Van Dyk, to determine if the certificate could be used.
Outside accounts and the certificate are reported to the state auditor yearly, but the office does not investigate their origins, McFarland said.
There is roughly $1.2 million in unallocated money from the sales tax, but commissioners maintain this is enough to run the county for about a month and should be kept in case of an emergency.
