The Monroe County Council adopted the 2025 county budget and awarded $167,000 in community service grants Monday.
The general fund makes up almost $54 million of the county’s $103 million budget. General funds cover revenues and expenditures unaccounted for by other funds and the rest of the money is distributed between county departments, public projects and employee benefits.
Councilmember Marty Hawk was the only one to vote against the $103 million budget, which passed 5-1, as councilmember Cheryl Munson was not present at the vote.
Hawk said she could not support the budget because she is more fiscally conservative than the other council members.
“If this is what the majority wishes to do, I understand,” Hawk said during Monday’s meeting. “But it’s just not something I can do.”
Councilmember Kate Wiltz said she felt she was more fiscally conservative than the other council members, too, but supports the budget anyway. Councilmember Peter Iversen had a different take.
“I see this budget as a significant milestone,” he said, mentioning the 3.2% cost-of-living adjustment to county employees’ salaries as a step forward to keep up with inflation.
Iversen said the budget allocates money for a new “climate employee” who will address environmental issues, which the county has not done before.
The adopted budget’s tax rate is 0.37%, which is 0.01% lower than last year’s 0.38%. The 2025 budget also contains a $3 million rainy-day fund.
Councilmember Geoff McKim said that, despite supporting the budget, he thinks it requires careful monitoring.
“We have to acknowledge that we are passing a budget that, at least on paper, is a deficit budget,” McKim said. “On the other hand, I’d say there’s probably a pretty good chance the reversions we see will probably be well over that deficit by the end of the year.”
Reversions happen when specifically allocated money goes unspent and is returned to the general fund. The budget is structured so that reversions will theoretically cover the deficit at the end of 2025.
The council also awarded Sophia Travis Community Service Grants, which support community projects, to 42 organizations. All-Options Pregnancy Resource Center and Planned Parenthood Bloomington Health Center were among the awardees, receiving $5,000 and $3,750, respectively.
All-Options and Planned Parenthood are both care centers that facilitated abortions for pregnant women before the Indiana’s a near-total abortion ban went into effect.
Councilmember Jennifer Crossley said she received an email from a concerned resident wondering if money awarded to All-Options and Planned Parenthood would fund abortions.
The council attorney, Jeff Cockerill, confirmed this would not be the case.
Abortion is illegal in Indiana except for if the pregnancy poses a lethal threat to the pregnant person or if there is a lethal fetal anomaly before 20 weeks of pregnancy. If the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest, a doctor can perform an abortion before 10 weeks' gestation.
“In particular, Planned Parenthood, they do a lot more,” Crossley said. “They provide services to those who don’t have health services. So, I just wanted to dispel any myths for anybody out in the audience… I sure hope that folks can understand that.”
The public can access these grant applications on the Sophia Travis Community Service Grant website, where each organization lists its purpose and intended use of grant funds.
