County Finances

Understanding county finances can be difficult. This section attempts to shed some light on this subject by describing the sources of county revenue, the budgeting of this revenue, and the processes involved with the expenditure of the revenue.

Revenue Sources

There are six (6) major categories of county revenue. They are local taxes, state funding, federal funding, debt funding, investment income and miscellaneous revenue.

Budget Process

Below is a chart highlighting the budget process.

Expenditures

Once the budget process is complete, the Auditor creates a ledger of each county fund and a separate account for each appropriation or disbursement. Disbursements are credited against the appropriation accordingly to keep track of the unexpended balance. Only the board of commissioners and various county boards and commissions specifically empowered by law are authorized to make purchases for the county either directly or by contract.

Purchases less than $150,000 are defined as "Small Purchases" by the State of Indiana and the procedures for expenditures of this amount or less are defined in IC 5-22-8. In general, counties follow formal bidding procedures IC 4-13.6-5 for purchase of materials within the same line or class totaling over $50,000 for the year.