Silver Lake Finances In Good Health, Water Tap Fee Increases
September 14, 2017 at 4:37 p.m.
By Ben Quiggle-
Eric Walsh, with Umbaugh & Associates, an accounting firm the town has contracted to review its annual budgets, said it was “in good shape” moving into 2018.
Silver Lake is looking at a $13,000 to $14,000 increase in property tax revenue in 2018. Its gross property tax income is slated to be $368,011, but they will lose almost $33,000 of that due to property tax circuit breakers.
“Many of the units in Kosciusko County realize about 86 cents on the dollar,” Walsh said.
The town also is set to reap between $6,000 to $7,000 in additional revenue to its Motor Vehicle Highway Fund and Local Roads & Street Distribution from the 10-cent gas tax increase that was instituted by the state legislature earlier this year.
Walsh noted that the money does come with strings attached though, telling council members that half of the over $40,000 that the town has in those areas will need to be used strictly for road projects, instead of on other local improvement projects.
Over the last few years the town has worked to build up its reserves, according to Chad Miner, council president. Walsh noted that for the year 2016 the town had $45,000 in encumbrances that was carried over into 2017. That’s money that was appropriated for projects, but never spent.
“We have made good progress on building our funds,” said Miner. “There has been a lot of hard work to get to this point.”
It bodes well for a town that has a number of expensive projects it wants to accomplish in the next year or two, including demolition of the former Silver Lake school, which the town has budgeted $80,000 for out of its Economic Development Income Tax (EDIT).
It also has budgeted around $70,000 for a sidewalk project that would extend a walkway along Ind. 15 north of town. Both projects will force some funds to go into negative territory.
Walsh said that normally he wouldn’t want to see a municipality create a budget with funds that end the year in the red, but he assured the council that they will only end the year in the red if every dollar of the budget is spent, something he said is not likely.
“You are to the point now where you can absorb these projects, get them done and dip into those cash balances that you built up and I am not too overly concerned,” he said. “You couldn’t do it year after year, but doing it this one time and getting them done, you are in fine financial shape.”
In other news, the council voted to increase the water tap fee from $300 to $1,000. This fee is assessed to individuals that are hooking up new lines to the town’s water supply and establishing new service.
Residents also may have to pay extra for special circumstances, such as water lines that require larger meters, extra labor and lines that have to be laid under roadways.
Council members said the fee had not been changed since the early 1990s and that it was needed to help cover the costs and supplies of hooking new lines to the town’s water supply.
The council also set Silver Lake’s trick-or-treating time for 6 to 7:30 p.m. Oct. 31.
Fall cleanup is scheduled for Oct. 5-9 and the next town council meeting, where the 2018 budget will be discussed, is set for 7 p.m. Oct. 11.
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Eric Walsh, with Umbaugh & Associates, an accounting firm the town has contracted to review its annual budgets, said it was “in good shape” moving into 2018.
Silver Lake is looking at a $13,000 to $14,000 increase in property tax revenue in 2018. Its gross property tax income is slated to be $368,011, but they will lose almost $33,000 of that due to property tax circuit breakers.
“Many of the units in Kosciusko County realize about 86 cents on the dollar,” Walsh said.
The town also is set to reap between $6,000 to $7,000 in additional revenue to its Motor Vehicle Highway Fund and Local Roads & Street Distribution from the 10-cent gas tax increase that was instituted by the state legislature earlier this year.
Walsh noted that the money does come with strings attached though, telling council members that half of the over $40,000 that the town has in those areas will need to be used strictly for road projects, instead of on other local improvement projects.
Over the last few years the town has worked to build up its reserves, according to Chad Miner, council president. Walsh noted that for the year 2016 the town had $45,000 in encumbrances that was carried over into 2017. That’s money that was appropriated for projects, but never spent.
“We have made good progress on building our funds,” said Miner. “There has been a lot of hard work to get to this point.”
It bodes well for a town that has a number of expensive projects it wants to accomplish in the next year or two, including demolition of the former Silver Lake school, which the town has budgeted $80,000 for out of its Economic Development Income Tax (EDIT).
It also has budgeted around $70,000 for a sidewalk project that would extend a walkway along Ind. 15 north of town. Both projects will force some funds to go into negative territory.
Walsh said that normally he wouldn’t want to see a municipality create a budget with funds that end the year in the red, but he assured the council that they will only end the year in the red if every dollar of the budget is spent, something he said is not likely.
“You are to the point now where you can absorb these projects, get them done and dip into those cash balances that you built up and I am not too overly concerned,” he said. “You couldn’t do it year after year, but doing it this one time and getting them done, you are in fine financial shape.”
In other news, the council voted to increase the water tap fee from $300 to $1,000. This fee is assessed to individuals that are hooking up new lines to the town’s water supply and establishing new service.
Residents also may have to pay extra for special circumstances, such as water lines that require larger meters, extra labor and lines that have to be laid under roadways.
Council members said the fee had not been changed since the early 1990s and that it was needed to help cover the costs and supplies of hooking new lines to the town’s water supply.
The council also set Silver Lake’s trick-or-treating time for 6 to 7:30 p.m. Oct. 31.
Fall cleanup is scheduled for Oct. 5-9 and the next town council meeting, where the 2018 budget will be discussed, is set for 7 p.m. Oct. 11.
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