By By JOHN EBY / Dowagiac Daily News
CASSOPOLIS -- In a joint presentation to the Cass County Board of Commissioners July 3, county Treasurer Linda S. Irwin and Finance Director John H. Murphy reported on $13,893,671.14 in investments.
Thirty-five percent is at Chemical Shoreline, 14 percent is at Flagstar, 18 percent is at Fifth Third Bank, 18 percent is at Huntington Bank, 4 percent is at G.W. Jones Bank, 3 percent is at Standard Federal and 8 percent is in "LUG accounts." LUG stands for Local Unit of Government.
Interest earnings have declined. The county made $316,115 in 1998, $268,921 in 1999, peaked at $357,657 in 2000, but slid to $281,000 in 2001, $114,786, in 2002 and will not even reach the conservative $125,000 budgeted for 2003.
Commissioner David Taylor, D-Edwardsburg, observed, "It's obvious it's a very bad time to be in cash -- as any senior citizen will tell you. We are fortunate not to be heavily in cash in our various institutions and entities in Cass County. In other words, we're not paying rent in a lot of places. We own the buildings. As we go forward, it's wise of us to try to maximize investments and those things that produce for us and watch the cash. Cash doesn't pay these days."
In other business, commissioners approved leasing back to the E-911 Central Dispatch budget over 10 years at $15,000 annually the two radio consoles the Building Authority purchased for $148,470 from High-Tech/SMR Communications, Berrien Springs.
Money for the purchase came from the office, equipment and computer pool fund. The $1.4 million facility created out of the building north of the courthouse annex is expected to be completed in September. Landmark Design Group, Grand Rapids, designed the project.
Commissioner Ron Francis, R-Cassopolis, reported Cass County Economic Development Corp., which manages the business incubator in Cassopolis, will be hosting its annual open house at noon Aug. 21.
Chairman Johnie Rodebush, D-Howard Township, said Circuit Judge Michael E. Dodge was scheduled to hear the request to establish Barron Lake's legal water level at 10 a.m. today.
County Administrator Terry Proctor announced that Executive Director Kirt Carter would be guest speaker at the commission's 4 p.m. meeting Thursday, July 17, discussing what Woodlands Behavioral Healthcare Network does.
Commissioner David Taylor, D-Edwardsburg, former Woodlands board chairman, pointed out that the agency brought in $9.2 million, of which the county contributed only $195,000. "You're getting $9.2 million bang for the buck for $195,000 of expenditure," he said. "I also had occasion today to speak with Jeff Elliott, chair of the Cass-Van Buren County district health board. "That's about a $4.2 million operation that costs us less than $200,000. We're getting for our constituents, as far as goods and services, about $13.4 million worth of punch for a very little amount by effectively using state and federal funds. This is peanuts to the federal government, which put up ($25 million) as a reward for Saddam Hussein -- just at the drop of a hat, with no budget at all."
Sheriff Joe Underwood's seventh annual golf outing at Hampshire Country Club which funds scholarships for Cass County students will take place July 24. Golfers tee off at 9 a.m. There is a hog roast with sweet corn and an auction that takes place about 4 p.m.
The week of Aug. 4 the courts will start moving from the 1899 courthouse to the new Law and Courts Building.
Commissioners meet Thursday, Aug. 7, at 7:30 p.m. Animal Control Director Pat Fetherston will report on the sale of dog licenses through veterinarians.
Proctor noted that a 3-percent revenue sharing cut is proposed on top of a reduction last year in the county's second-largest fund source.