06172015 - News Article - Commissioners lips are sealed on latest FBI visit

Commissioners lips are sealed on latest FBI visit
Chesterton Tribune
June 17, 2015
http://chestertontribune.com/PoliceFireEmergency/commissioners_lips_are_sealed_on.htm

The Porter County Commissioners are refusing to comment on reports that agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation were in their office on Tuesday morning.

All three Commissioners -- President John Evans, R-North; Jeff Good, R-Center; and Laura Shurr Blaney, D-South -- declined members of the press’ request to speak on the matter, following the advice of County Attorney Betty Knight.

Knight was also tight-lipped on Tuesday.

Reports of the FBI visiting the County Administration Building began between late 2013 and Spring 2014, when agents took documents related to the December 2012 contract between the County Commissioners and Porter Regional Hospital over the employee wellness plan, conflict of interest disclosure statements from 2007 to 2013, payroll information for the County Expo Center from 2013, bid proposals related to 2010 and 2011 contracts with the County Highway Department, and building permits for Porter Regional Hospital and its adjacent medical center.

FBI visits reported by Porter County government representatives have slowed considerably over the last 12 months as the agency seemingly shifted its focus to local city governments.

In July 2014, agents began looking into Portage Mayor James Snyder’s campaign finance reports and the Citizens for Snyder political action committee finance report from 2011.

Last September, agents entered the Porter County Auditor’s Office and obtained copies of two sales disclosures related to the Valparaiso Promenade development involving the City of Valparaiso’s Redevelopment Commission.

After nearly two years of investigating, the FBI has not yet made public any results or charges.

06152015 - News Article - FBI visits Porter County office, but no one's talking

FBI visits Porter County office, but no one's talking
Chicago Tribune
June 15, 2015
http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-porter-fbi-visit-st-0617-20150616-story.html

Agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigations went through the Porter County Board of Commissioners' office late Tuesday morning, but no one will say why they were there.

Neither the commissioners nor county attorney Betty Knight would say why the agents were in the office, located in the county's administration building in Valparaiso, or what types of documents or information they may have been after – or acquired.

A special agent with the FBI did not return a call seeking comment.

Agents made frequent visits to county offices in late 2013 and early 2014 for a wide array of documents.

Those include conflict of interest statements filed with Clerk Karen Martin; communications from the servicing agent for the county's health insurance regarding the county's contract for clinic services; highway department bids and contracts for services and supplies for 2010 and 2011; and copies of building permits in the plan commission office regarding Porter Regional Hospital and a nearby medical office building.

So far, nothing has come of any of the investigations.

06052015 - News Article - Valparaiso barking over county animal control fee

Valparaiso barking over county animal control fee 
Amy Lavalley
Post-Tribune
June 05, 2015 - 4:02PM
http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-porter-animal-control-st-0607-20150605-story.html

Valparaiso officials are growling about Porter County tripling the city's fee for animal control, and contend they haven't paid the fee for the past several years because they never received a new contract.

"We're well aware that we haven't paid but under state statute, I have to have a contract or an invoice to pay any bill in here," said Valparaiso Clerk-Treasurer Sharon Swihart.

As the Porter County Board of Commissioners established a fund to take in fees for animal control services, with the money split between animal control and the animal shelter, county attorney Betty Knight said Tuesday contracts with the county's municipalities had not been renegotiated since 2011, and all but one community had been paying the fee each year.

Portage is not included in the mix because it has its own animal control officers and takes its animal to the Humane Society shelter in Hobart.

State statute dictates that communities provide animal control services, Knight said, and most of the county's municipalities chose to pay the county instead of providing the service themselves.

Valparaiso's fee will go up from $20,150 to $63,200, based on calls for service, Jeff Biggs, commander of the Porter County Sheriff's Department, which oversees animal control, said earlier in the week.

Swihart said she called county officials in 2012 about the expired contract for animal control but got no response. While the city budgeted for the service each year, she couldn't pay out the funds without documents from the county.

"We pay our bills and we pay them timely, but we have to have a bill," she said, adding she found out about the fee increase after reading it in the newspaper, though she got a copy of the new contract Wednesday.

The city also hasn't budgeted to pay more than $60,000 under the terms of the new contract, which takes effect Aug. 1, because this year's budget is already complete.

Swihart will be meeting with county officials to figure things out.

"The commissioners and sheriff's department are going to talk with the interested parties over the next few weeks and work through the issues," said Commissioner Laura Blaney, D-South.

Swihart is confident the matter will be resolved, especially since it's cheaper for the city to contract with the county for the services than to have to provide them independently.

"We certainly want to do our part," she said.

06022015 - News Article - Porter County municipalities asked to cover animal control costs

Porter County municipalities asked to cover animal control costs
Post Tribune
June 02, 2015 - 3:44 PM
http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-porter-animal-ordinance-st-0603-20150602-story.html
Municipalities in Porter County will soon be paying for animal control services provided by the county.

The Porter County Board of Commissioners, meeting Tuesday at the administration building in Valparaiso, voted to create funds to deposit money collected by the county for animal control services, with the proceeds split between the county's animal shelter and animal control, which falls under the auspices of the Porter County Sheriff's Department.

Contracts for the service had not been renegotiated since 2010 and, with the exception of one municipality, the fee has not been collected since 2011, said county attorney Betty Knight.

Animal control alone lost $125,000 in revenue over the last five years from municipalities that weren't paying the fee, said Jeff Biggs, commander of the sheriff's department. Chesterton is the only community that's been paying for the service since its contract expired, he added, at $6,076 a year.

Previously, animal control was under the direction of the shelter and money collected through the fee went there. The money will now be split between the shelter and animal control, Knight said.

Portage is not included in the mix because it has its own animal control officers and takes its animal to the Humane Society shelter in Hobart.

The one-year contracts with the municipalities take effect on Aug. 1. State statute dictates that communities provide animal control services, Knight said, and most of the county's municipalities chose to pay the county instead of providing the service themselves.

The fee will bring in $90,640 a year, with half going to animal control and half going to the shelter, said Biggs, who worked up a fee schedule based on the average number of calls for service for each community between 2010 and 2014.

"That $45,000 would pay for a new truck" for animal control, something that will be needed in the coming year, he said.

He estimates annual costs for the service to be $200,000 for animal control, then doubled that to $400,000 to cover the animal shelter's costs and used that figure to calculate the municipalities' fees.

For some communities, the amount will remain the same or go down, Knight said.

For the city of Valparaiso, Biggs said, the fee will go up from $20,150 to $63,200. Valparaiso makes up 16 percent of the calls for service, so will pay that percentage of the costs. Only the unincorporated part of the county had a higher percentage, at 64 percent.

"It's not going to cover the entire operation of the shelter" or animal control, Knight said. "It's meant to help."

The ordinance will have a second reading at the commissioners' next meeting.

06022015 - News Article - Porter County city and towns asked to pay more for the dog catcher

Porter County city and towns asked to pay more for the dog catcher
NWI Times
June 02, 2015
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/porter/porter-county-city-and-towns-asked-to-pay-more-for/article_18cf0a3e-4531-5c24-9bc6-62a9a7745640.html
VALPARAISO | The city of Valparaiso is facing an increase of more than 200 percent in its annual fee for animal control services provided by the county.

The proposed increase from $20,150 to $63,200 is part of an effort by the Porter County Board of Commissioners to address ongoing collection and contract problems with the service, according to County Attorney Elizabeth Knight.

The municipal contracts, which are voluntary and provided by the county on an elective basis, have not been updated since 2010, Knight said. Most of the proceeds went uncollected between 2012 and 2014, she said.

As a result of the county Sheriff's Department taking over the animal control services from the shelter in 2011, an evaluation was done to determine what each municipality should be paying based on historical use, she said.

Jeff Biggs, who serves as chief deputy at the Sheriff's Department, said five years of service calls were evaluated and calculated against the department's $200,000 annual operating cost for animal control that covers three officers, overtime and three vehicles.

Other municipalities facing an increase include Beverly Shores ($558 to $1,600), Burns Harbor ($682 to $1,600), Hebron ($2,015 to $5,600), Kouts ($1,550 to $1,600), Pines ($1,209 to $2,400) and Porter ($4,371 to $11,520), according to Biggs.

Chesterton's rate went down from $6,076 to $3,120.

Biggs said Chesterton stood out as having paid the fee during the years when others did not.

Knight said the proposed contracts are being sent to each participating municipality. The city of Portage is not included because it has its own animal control services and relies on the Humane Society of Hobart rather than the county animal shelter.

Participating municipalities have until Aug. 1 to decide whether to enter into an annual agreement, Knight said. Half of all proceeds collected will be directed to the Sheriff's Department and half to the animal shelter, she said.