Transfer request is nearly 50 percent of fund's starting balance

The finance committee of the Hillsboro City Council has tentative plans to meet next week regarding an administrative request for a transfer into a professional services fund in an amount that is nearly 50 percent of the fund's January balance. 

Finance committee chairperson Pete Pence said Tuesday that the fund for which the administration is seeking the transfer started the year with $65,000. On Monday, it was requested council approve a transfer to add $30,000 to that fund. 

During council's regular meeting on Monday, Hillsboro Safety and Service Director Rick Giroux had asked for an addendum to a resolution council was considering on transferring $9,000 from the recreation fund to the general fund to cover the additional costs of a code enforcement officer at the Hillsboro Police Department.

Giroux requested the addendum of a $30,000 transfer from the street construction fund to the 101-790-523-480 professional services fund to cover outside legal fees on work regarding the Hillsboro firefighters union, redesigning the city's website and for contingencies. 

It was noted the request is not for an increase; rather, it's for a transfer within the budget council had previously approved.

Giroux said that he would have had it written into the legislation and not added it as an addendum, but "unfortunately, it was a last-minute adjustment needed to cover expenses." 

During the meeting, Pence had asked Giroux how much was in the professional services fund originally, and Giroux said he did not have that figure. 

Hillsboro Auditor Gary Lewis is on vacation this week, and Pence said that a meeting date will be set when Lewis is available to review the numbers and answer questions by council members. 

Giroux had said that there were still monies left in the fund, but that figure was not given to council.

Council voted 6-0 to approve the transfer of $9,000 but put the addendum into committee. 

"Believe me, we will certainly be asking questions," Pence said. "We will address all of this, but first we need more information." 

As previously reported in The Highland County Press, according to an invoice the city received on April 9 from the law firm Blaugrund, Herbert, Kessler, Miller, Myers, Postalakis, Inc., the city had been billed $6,435.97 for services. The firm has been working with the city's deputy law director Laura Curliss, Giroux and mayor Drew Hastings since Feb. 29 as "labor counsel" regarding the firefighters union. 

In April, The Highland County Press reported the city had contracted with the law firm Ice Miller, LLP for representation in matters dealing with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio.