Township Board Approves Budget Transfers to Fund Assessor’s Staff and Correct Rent Payment

ARTICLE SUMMARY: The Green Garden Township Board approved Resolution 2025-005, which reallocates a total of $25,200 within the town fund to provide necessary staffing funds for the assessor’s office and to correct a budgetary line item for office rent.

Key Points:

• The board transferred $12,600 from the “Town Hall Improvements” line item to the assessor’s “Staff” line item to fund a new employee.

• A second transfer moved $12,600 from the “Assessors Office Rent” line item to a “Contractual Services” line item, clarifying that the township, not the assessor, holds the lease.

• Assessor Jane Bushong stated the additional staff funding was critical to handle the office’s workload, which includes reassessing 4,000 parcels every four years and managing a high volume of resident inquiries.

• The transfers do not increase the township’s overall budget or provide a salary raise for the assessor.

GREEN GARDEN – The Green Garden Township Board unanimously approved a pair of budget transfers on Monday to bolster the assessor’s office staff and align its rental payments with the proper budgetary line item.

The board passed Resolution 2025-005, which authorizes two significant transfers within the 2025-2026 town fund. The first moves $12,600 from the “Town Hall Improvements” expense line to the assessor’s staff salary budget. The second shifts $12,600, designated for the assessor’s office rent, into the township’s “Contractual Services” fund.

Supervisor Dean Christofilos explained the transfers were necessary for operational stability and proper accounting. The funds for staffing will support a recently hired employee, Helen Selzer, ensuring the assessor’s office can manage its duties without interruption.

“Without any additional funding, about two more months it’ll it would be out,” Christofilos said of the existing staff budget. “In order to fund the assessor’s office properly and so that the assessor’s office could do the work on our behalf for our township, we want to transfer that.”

He clarified the money is for staff pay and is not a salary increase for Assessor Jane Bushong.

The rent transfer corrects a procedural issue. The lease for the assessor’s office space is held by the township, not the assessor’s office directly. Moving the expense to “Contractual Services” places the responsibility under the township’s general budget, which officials said is the appropriate location.

During discussion, Bushong highlighted the need for adequate staffing. She noted her office is responsible for reassessing all 4,000 township parcels on a four-year cycle, processing new construction, and handling a surge of resident inquiries following the recent application of a 6% county-wide assessment multiplier.

“When we don’t pay attention to every property and equalize every property effectively, the distribution of that inequality gets spread out across every [taxpayer],” Bushong said, explaining that understaffing can lead to higher multipliers and more tax appeals.

The resolution was approved with a 3-0 vote. Trustees Ralph Deetz and Wesley Shepherd voted yes, along with Supervisor Christofilos. Trustee Monroe Striggow abstained, citing a conflict of interest as the owner of the building where the assessor’s office is located.