Allen County Commissioners deliver their State of the County speech to Rotary.
The main responsibility of the Allen County Commissioners is oversight of the county general fund and administration of those dollars. Commissioner Beth Seibert told us that Allen County's 2022 budget is more than $31 million, up nearly $2 million from 2021. "I know that sounds like a lot of money but there's very little wiggle room in that and there's a lot of moving targets." Beth told us that 63% of that revenue comes from sales tax, 11% from charge for services, 10% from property tax, and the rest from other sources. That money funds 25 different county agencies, such as the courts, the sheriff's office, the coroner's office, the auditor's office, the recorder's office and more. Beth told us that the county must have a balanced budget, it cannot borrow money for operational expenses. Commissioner Cory Noonan told us that the county would like to spend more money on capital expenses to repair older buildings and renovate them for modern uses. "If you think about where county government may have been in 1884 when the courthouse was built and where we're at today, it's slightly different." He says that many people ask why the county doesn't sell some of its properties to raise money. Noonan says they simply can't. "The county engineer has right of ways all over the county that we have to have. At the end of the day, they are for county purposes that we cannot give ownership to somebody else." Cory did say that he thinks there may be a way to consolidate some of the buildings and if that happens, then they would be able to sell some properties.
