Fred Glynn Points Out The Importance of County Council and Local Governance

Local governments, such as county councils basically are designed with the aim of creating order that serves the general public in a democratic manner. The general public subsequently elects the leader that they have the most faith in to run a local government in an efficient manner. As pointed out by Fred Glynn for the purpose of the election, the County Council of Hamilton in Indiana has been divided into four districts.  One member from each of them are elected as a council member, and three are elected from the county at large. All these seven members tend to serve staggered, 4-year terms. Glynn himself was elected as a Hamilton County Council member in the year of 2014 from its District one.

The elected members of county councils typically have a level of power to do whatever they feel is needed to ensure the betterment of the local communities. As pointed by Fred Glynn they typically have the exclusive power to fix the tax rate for county purposes and for all other purposes where the rate not fixed by law, as well as have the power of making appropriations to be paid out of the county treasury.  Glynn majorly stepped into the world of politics in the year of 2012, when he started working as a Hamilton County Coordinator for Vice President Mike Pence’s gubernatorial campaign. He went on to be elected as a member of the Hamilton County Council just two years after that.

According to Fred Glynn while the Hamilton County Council has a number of important responsibilities, some of its prime functions related to the domain of budgeting. The Board of Commissioners, as well as officeholders and departments, are required to submit their budget to the County Council as follows:

• Sum of money needed for both repairing and building bridges, and also itemizing them by providing the location and expense of each of the bridges
• Salary of the county attorney
• The sum of salary or compensation of pauper attorneys, if there are any
• Expenses of the County Board of Health
• Sum of money needed to repair the roads, including the bridges, while being itemized by location and amount for each project
• Sum of money involved in the election costs, while showing the estimated amount for precincts
• Sum of money needed to pay both interests and principal for bonds and loads that mature during the suing calendar year
• Sum of money needed to pay judgments, settlements, and costs

Fred Glynn also points out that the Hamilton County Council has the exclusive power to authorize the borrowing of money for the county. However, the total sum of county indebtedness should not go over the sum that equals to 2% of the assessed valuation of the county. The state tax board additionally might order the county to borrow money for the purpose of funding the state welfare program.