Auditor accused of some ‘shirking’

Decatur Daily Democrat:

A request by the county auditor for the county council to consider increasing the pay of his five staff members by a total of $6,000 led to an unusual and unexpected response from a veteran councilman on Tuesday.

Auditor Bill Borne, who was not present, had submitted a two-page, 11-paragraph, single-spaced request for the $6,000, seeking $2,000 for his chief deputy and $1,000 each for the other four staffers. The council chose to withhold action until the 2012 budget is prepared in September.

However, longtime council member Phil Wulliman said Borne, a two-time winner of the Indiana Auditor of the Year award, "is shirking some of his responsibilites." He added that, while the council does not want to micromanage county offices, "this is a prime example of where we might need to do that."