Martin County Council Reviews Ambulance Overtime Spike, Salary Ordinance, and Shoals Main Street Building Purchase

In their final meeting for 2025, the Martin County Council focused on wrapping up the year’s financial decisions. 

December’s Council meeting concentrated heavily on ambulance overtime spending, salary ordinance updates, and financial decisions still outstanding for the calendar year. The Council discussed a request to transfer ambulance funds from other salary line items to compensate for increased overtime. This would allow the department to stay within the budget approved in the last Salary and Wage Ordinance, where the allocation for overtime was $84,000, as October overtime reached over $97,000. 

Council members questioned why the ambulance department has already exceeded its allotment when the department is fully staffed. Ambulance leadership explained that standard scheduling practices require employees to work two 24-hour shifts per week, resulting in eight hours of overtime for each full-time worker. One employee was also out with medical issues, increasing the burden. Last year’s overtime totaled about $56,000, making this year's costs nearly double. Despite concerns, officials authorized the transfer, emphasizing no additional budget funds are being requested and the department has unused salary allocations available to cover the overage. 

The Council approved a request from the prosecutor’s office to increase its county user fee bonus stipend by $2,000, funded through pre-trial diversion revenues. The state advised the county to update the salary ordinance to reflect the payment. Members reviewed and approved updates to the ordinance, including a 2.5% raise for employees and adjustments to several part-time and department-specific pay lines. Discussion continued on a possible $4,000 health stipend next year and future insurance changes, though no decision has been made. 

Following State Board of Accounts guidance, the county is renumbering several grant funds so that federal grants will correctly fall under 8000-series accounts. The council approved transferring $164,280 from an old emergency response grant fund to its newly designated number. Additional appropriations were approved to allow departments to continue spending remaining 2025 grant funds. 

The council authorized a $300,000 EDIT fund appropriation to pay off a loan for the prosecutor’s building. Multiple internal line-item transfers, including utility shortfalls, vehicle maintenance, and pest treatment, received approval. They also approved Public Health Emergency Preparedness 8102 and Cooperative Agreement for Emergency Response 8103. 

Significant discussion centered on the Redevelopment Commission’s agreement to purchase a damaged Main Street building in Shoals. Officials said it will cost less to purchase at $135,000 than to assess and stabilize during demolition of adjacent buildings. The goal is to move forward with efforts to clean up Main Street and potentially convert the property into a useful space. 

For more information on these and other updates, visit the Martin County Indiana Courthouse Facebook page. 

 - Drew Hasselbring