By Rusty Nixon Correspondent
PLYMOUTH — Marshall County may be in better shape fiscally at year’s end than previously anticipated.
Tuesday, Michael Carroll, head of the Division of Family and Children, came before the County Council to request an additional appropriation of around $775,000 to pay bills to the end of the year. The good news is that Carroll reported the division has the money, and the payments mean that the county will not have to take out a loan to make them before Jan. 1.
Part of the state legislature’s tax bill, HB 1001, is that on January 1 the state will assume the cost of the DFC, taking it off the county tax levy. Marshall County would be responsible to pay all expenses incurred before that date, and projections showed that the county might have to consider a loan in order to meet those obligations.

It had originally been estimated the county would be liable for around $1.14 million at year’s end.
Carroll told the Council that his office had been working diligently to obtain reimbursements due to them for services. He said the DFC was showing a $2.7 million cash balance with more money projected to be received by the end of the year. The additional appropriation of money would take the county off the hook at the beginning of the year.
Councilman Fred Lintner brought forward the question of what would happen if there were any surplus left at year’s end. With the state assuming the DFC expense after the first of the year, the law is unclear as to whether they would also receive any surplus money in the department.
Auditor Penny Lukenbill informed the Council that the law was indeed unclear as to where surplus money would go on Jan. 1, and that discussion around the state had begun on how such a situation would be handled.
State mandates on computer systems have begun to cost the County more money. In order to remain compliant with state demands on uniformity of computer software, the county will have to pay an additional $40,000. County IT Director Mike Marshall told the Council it was unclear where the state was headed in its demands for county’s software compliance but feared that more mandates would be on the way with an unknown cost.
Councilperson Judy Stone cast the only dissenting vote to the motion to provide the money, saying that she wasn’t against the move, only against state mandates without any provision for funding.
If the county did not comply with the mandate, the state can withhold tax income.
Councilman Ralph Booker supplied Council members with a breakdown of all budgets for government tax entities in the county. Another part of HB 1001 is that the council review all budgets and make non-binding suggestions. The Council will consider the budgets at their next meeting.