Bartholomew County Council will be looking at reductions to make when they consider the 2021 budget starting next week. But things are not as bleak as they could be.

County Auditor Pia O’Connor told the Council members this week that based on her analysis, they would be facing budget expenses of $30.2 million in the General Fund, up about $2.8 million from this year. But they would also see only $28.7 million in revenue for the General Fund, compared to $29.3 million. The biggest revenue loss next year is expected to be in the local income tax revenues, which are expected to be off by about $1.2 million dollars due to the pandemic, layoffs, furloughs and pay cuts endured by members of the community.

If those numbers hold true, the council would have to cut about $1.6 million in requested spending to balance the spending against the revenue. The biggest budget increase identified by O’Connor is the costs to deal with the COVID pandemic, estimated at $3.5 million dollars. And the General Fund will have to pick up about $450 thousand in jail costs, that have been paid out of income taxes in recent years. But the county will also drop planned spending on courthouse repairs by about a million dollars and with the city of Columbus picking up half the tab for the Alliance For Substance Abuse Progress in Bartholomew County, that would mean another $394 thousand dollars in reduced spending from this year.

O’Connor also pointed out that the county is in good financial shape already, with more than $12 million in expected reserves in the General Fund at the end of the year and another $4.5 million in the county’s Rainy Day Fund.

Bartholomew Consolidated Schools have been back in face-to-face classes for three days. And some of the COVID-19 indicators used to determine whether school should stay open are already in the red.

The school system is tracking seven indicators, but only four of those have actual numbers already attached to them. And of those four, two are in the red, showing substantial spread and have been in that state for 2-3 days.

Should the district tip over into substantial spread, schools would switch to eLearning. However, at this point the overall school status is still showing moderate spread, meaning schools can stay open.

One indicator in the red, the “Per Capita Positive Rate” in the community, has increased from Saturday’s 9.6, to a 10.3 on Sunday and a 12 as of Monday. Anything above a 10 is considered a sign of substantial spread. According to the the Indiana State Department of Health, Bartholomew County has the highest 7-day per capita positivity rate of any of the surrounding counties.

Also trending in the red are the number of community hospitalizations for COVID-19. That jumped from 10 last week, to 14 by Friday and then hit 17 on Saturday, 15 on Sunday and 17 again on Monday. Anything over a 14 is considered a sign of substantial spread.

The other two indicators currently available are showing moderate spread, and minimal spread.

School officials announced on social media that they will be working with Columbus Regional Health and the Bartholomew County Health Department to get a sense of the “information behind the information.” An update on the indicators will be released again on Friday.

You can get more information online here. (PDF download)

Two adults and two juveniles are under arrest after allegedly trying to rob a Seymour AT&T store last night.

Seymour Police say that three men entered the store on East Tipton Street and one displayed a handgun, ordering a store employee and customer to the back of the store. But the customer did not cooperate, and the three ran from the store and jumped into a silver passenger car.

Bartholomew County Sheriff’s deputy Sgt. Andrew Whipker noticed a vehicle matching that description heading northbound on U.S. 31 at about 7:52 last night. He followed the vehicle to a gas station and the people inside matched the descriptions of the Seymour robbery suspects. The driver and three passengers were detained and a search revealed evidence tied to the Seymour incident. All four were taken into custody.

19-year-old Steven Reed and 19-year-old Jamaryvan Brewer, both of Indianapolis, are facing a preliminary charge of attempted robbery. The two others in the vehicle are both 16-year-olds from Indianapolis and are also being held on attempted robbery charges.

A Seymour police officer was arrested on drunk driving charges after a Saturday night incident in Columbus.

Columbus officers were alerted to a vehicle that crossed the center-line on Jonesville Road near the Bartholomew County 4-H Fairgrounds at about 11:10 p.m. Saturday night and stopped a vehicle driven by 51-year-old Brian C. Franklin of Seymour.

Police say that Franklin was slurring and his eyes appeared bloodshot and glassy. After several field sobriety tests, Franklin was taken to the Columbus police department where he blew a .11 percent on a breath test and was arrested on a preliminary charge of operating a vehicle while intoxicated.

Seymour police said that Franklin is a detective sergeant with that agency. He has been placed on administrative leave, pending the outcome of an internal investigation. The findings will be forwarded to the Seymour Board of Works and Public Safety.