Shopping Guide News of Fulton County - March 31, 2021

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TAX SERVICE EL ECT RICAL CONTRACTO R

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9581 E. 100 N., Akron, IN 46910 E-mail: tom@tombauterscpa.com

Wednesday, March 31, 2021

Vol. 64, Issue No. 13

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Fulton County auditor’s office:

Following the money %\ 5$< %$/2*+ 6WDII :ULWHU Fulton County Auditor Christina Sriver deals with money. Lots of money. The people’s money. That’s why she gladly reports of those working in the county’s 34 departments, “I work with good, frugal people.” Sriver is the chief financial officer for the county, the principal gatekeeper of budgets and bonds, the conduit of the county government’s income and outgo. According to the county’s website, www.co.fulton.in.us, Sriver and her staff are “responsible for handling all receipts and disbursements of county funds, creating financial statements for the county, completing annual reports for review by the state board of accounts and processing payroll for over 190 county employees. “Additionally, the office handles all transfers of ownership of real property; maintains property boundary information in conjunction with the county GIS system; calculates property tax for all real, personal, mobile home and special assessment records; and controls distributions of tax collections, special assessments and special revenue collections for all units of government within Fulton County.” Fulton County derives income from three primary sources: property taxes; income taxes; and user fees and fines such as real estate recording fees, court costs, speeding fines and seat belt violations, marriage licenses, birth and death certificates, building, electrical, plumbing and septic permits, mowing and sewer liens, flu shots and the like. Taxes are collected through eight townships; the city of Rochester; the towns of Akron, Fulton and Kewanna; and school corporation entities (Rochester, Caston and Pulaski) within Union Township.

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3$3(56 $1' 3,;(/6 ³ Fulton County Auditor Christina Sriver consults one of several volumes of flnancial data before inputting flgures into her computer. Photo by Ray Balogh.

The 2020 figures tell an accurate story of the county’s finances, as the income and distributions were not significantly affected by the pandemic, according to Sriver. Last year’s total budget was $14,892,385. The sources of income were: • Tax levies, $5,256,588 (35.3%) • Income tax, $5,604,008 (37.6%) • Fines and user fees, $4,031,789 (27.1%) Property and income tax rates are set by the county council with Sriver serving as their fiscal advisor. Various fees and fines are set by either the council or county commissioners or both, again with Sriver providing advice. The money is disbursed to numerous designated funds according to state and local laws. “I really have

no discretion where to place the money,” said Sriver, “except at the end of the year when we have unused general funds and I can transfer them to our rainy day fund.” The funds benefit the community in big and small ways, from providing police and fire protection to implementing economic development plans to paving streets and patching sidewalks. A rolling five-year bond allows the county to reserve funding to replace emergency vehicles and help pay for the new county jail. Sriver took office as county auditor in January 2017. Before that she worked in the office since March 2014 and received on-the-job training. “The prior auditor took me under her wing” and taught her the job, she said. She also learned during au-

dit meetings with the state department of local government finance. Sriver has implemented some procedures to make her office more accessible to the public, thereby increasing transparency. “Now tax bills are available online,” she said. “Department heads can file their claims online, and the public can look at those claims. Property owners can also apply for deductions from home on their laptop.” Some of the new services were prompted by the pandemic. “We were closed for seven weeks and it caused us to rethink,” Sriver said. “We will continue to get more services and information available online.” For more information, call (574) 223-2912 or visit www.co.fulton. in.us.

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