City Of Warsaw Tax Rate To Stay Below $1.20
November 25, 2020 at 3:40 a.m.
City Of Warsaw Tax Rate To Stay Below $1.20
By David [email protected]
The Common Council reviewed the 1782 Notice from the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance (DLGF) in a special meeting Tuesday and approved a resolution to respond to the notice.
A 1782 Notice informs government taxing units of any changes to their budget that were made by the DLGF. The units then have 10 days to respond with any request for changes. The city has until Monday to respond.
Four of the seven councilmen – the minimum quorum required – were initially present for the meeting Tuesday, with Councilwoman Diane Quance joining in during the latter part. Councilmen Jeff Grose and Mike Klondaris were absent.
Mayor Joe Thallemer told the Council the final proposed 1782 Notice tax rate was $1.2383, and the city would respond to that. He said Clerk-Treasurer Lynne Christiansen and her department “did a great job” going through the Notice and they found a couple of errors the DLGF made. Part of the resolution the Council approved Tuesday corrected those errors to more accurately reflect the city’s revenue.
“We’ve talked to them and it was unfortunately a double entry, pretty sizeable, so we’ll take care of that,” Thallemer said.
He said what the Council was responding to Tuesday was the 1782 Notice.
“Our goal, with our comprehensive financial plan and the work we’ve done with the uncertainty of the revenues we face in the next few years was to balance our budget, and I’ll tell you we’ve been successful at that,” Thallemer said.
He said he solicited budget cuts from the various city departments, including $974,250 from the general fund budget, $69,000 from parks and recreation, $27,000 from aviation, $23,000 from cemetery and $664,740 from the fire territory operating fund. The total of the spending reductions is $1,757,990.
“So those cuts will do two things. Number one, they will balance our budget ... we have just a very slight surplus in the budget because of those spending cuts,” Thallemer said.
He said the Notice showed that the general fund budget estimate was $13,802,846. With the budget cuts, that’s reduced to $12,828,596.
“That pretty much balances our budget and even puts us a slight, slight smidgen to the green,” Thallemer said. “So, I do want to thank all of our department heads for their understanding of the importance of this. Again, with the uncertainty of the revenues in the future; knowing that we did have a little bit of a break with the pension fund this year that we won’t have in the future; I thought that it was very important that we get this spending in line with our revenue and build our reserves and build a little bit of a cushion in our reserves.”
He said another bit of “good news” was that with all of those cuts, the city will be asking the DLGF to reduce its tax rate to $1.1967 per $100 of assessed valuation, just a little more than a penny of where it was.
“If you remember last year, we went, from ’19 to ’20, we went from $1.27 down to $1.182, I believe, and we’re going up a little bit more than a penny this year. So we’re still very low below our levy and tax rate. It hasn’t been this low since back in, I believe, it was 2015,” Thallemer said.
He said it was way down last year, dropping a little under a dime last year.
“That’s good news for our taxpayers. It’s good news for our city that we’re able to balance our budget and build our reserves and continue to move ahead in uncertain times,” Thallemer said.
The declaratory resolution asks the Common Council to approve the spending cuts that Thallemer talked about totaling over $1.75 million.
The DLGF will be instructed to take the fire territory operating portion and reduce its levy and tax rate, which had the mistake of double entries, as part of the resolution passed by the Council. Along with the budget reduction for the territory, the fire rate will be reduced from .2730 to .2314, about 4 cents.
The city’s overall goal is to reach a tax rate of $1.1967.
Council President Jack Wilhite thanked the department heads for really scrutinizing carefully their budgets to come up with the cuts.
Councilwoman Cindy Dobbins said, “I’m thrilled we are able to stay within a penny or so of where we were at last year.”
Josh Finch, councilman, said any time the city can operate on a surplus, even a small one, it’s a real luxury that shouldn’t be taken for granted.
Thallemer said, “I just want to note the surplus is just the difference in the numbers. I know there’s some pretty significant cuts that were made in the departments and I have assured the departments we will keep an eye on our revenues. These next two years, that’s going to be the important part. If our revenues go up and there’s concerns with funding for equipment, capital improvements or if there’s issues with personnel, we’re certainly there if those funds are available. This allows us to keep a watch on those revenues, and if we are fortunate enough to realize higher revenues than were estimated ... so be it and we’ll be able to respond if we need to.”
The Council approved 4-0 a motion to acknowledge the receipt of the draft of the 1782 Notice and then approved the resolution by a vote of 5-0.
The Common Council reviewed the 1782 Notice from the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance (DLGF) in a special meeting Tuesday and approved a resolution to respond to the notice.
A 1782 Notice informs government taxing units of any changes to their budget that were made by the DLGF. The units then have 10 days to respond with any request for changes. The city has until Monday to respond.
Four of the seven councilmen – the minimum quorum required – were initially present for the meeting Tuesday, with Councilwoman Diane Quance joining in during the latter part. Councilmen Jeff Grose and Mike Klondaris were absent.
Mayor Joe Thallemer told the Council the final proposed 1782 Notice tax rate was $1.2383, and the city would respond to that. He said Clerk-Treasurer Lynne Christiansen and her department “did a great job” going through the Notice and they found a couple of errors the DLGF made. Part of the resolution the Council approved Tuesday corrected those errors to more accurately reflect the city’s revenue.
“We’ve talked to them and it was unfortunately a double entry, pretty sizeable, so we’ll take care of that,” Thallemer said.
He said what the Council was responding to Tuesday was the 1782 Notice.
“Our goal, with our comprehensive financial plan and the work we’ve done with the uncertainty of the revenues we face in the next few years was to balance our budget, and I’ll tell you we’ve been successful at that,” Thallemer said.
He said he solicited budget cuts from the various city departments, including $974,250 from the general fund budget, $69,000 from parks and recreation, $27,000 from aviation, $23,000 from cemetery and $664,740 from the fire territory operating fund. The total of the spending reductions is $1,757,990.
“So those cuts will do two things. Number one, they will balance our budget ... we have just a very slight surplus in the budget because of those spending cuts,” Thallemer said.
He said the Notice showed that the general fund budget estimate was $13,802,846. With the budget cuts, that’s reduced to $12,828,596.
“That pretty much balances our budget and even puts us a slight, slight smidgen to the green,” Thallemer said. “So, I do want to thank all of our department heads for their understanding of the importance of this. Again, with the uncertainty of the revenues in the future; knowing that we did have a little bit of a break with the pension fund this year that we won’t have in the future; I thought that it was very important that we get this spending in line with our revenue and build our reserves and build a little bit of a cushion in our reserves.”
He said another bit of “good news” was that with all of those cuts, the city will be asking the DLGF to reduce its tax rate to $1.1967 per $100 of assessed valuation, just a little more than a penny of where it was.
“If you remember last year, we went, from ’19 to ’20, we went from $1.27 down to $1.182, I believe, and we’re going up a little bit more than a penny this year. So we’re still very low below our levy and tax rate. It hasn’t been this low since back in, I believe, it was 2015,” Thallemer said.
He said it was way down last year, dropping a little under a dime last year.
“That’s good news for our taxpayers. It’s good news for our city that we’re able to balance our budget and build our reserves and continue to move ahead in uncertain times,” Thallemer said.
The declaratory resolution asks the Common Council to approve the spending cuts that Thallemer talked about totaling over $1.75 million.
The DLGF will be instructed to take the fire territory operating portion and reduce its levy and tax rate, which had the mistake of double entries, as part of the resolution passed by the Council. Along with the budget reduction for the territory, the fire rate will be reduced from .2730 to .2314, about 4 cents.
The city’s overall goal is to reach a tax rate of $1.1967.
Council President Jack Wilhite thanked the department heads for really scrutinizing carefully their budgets to come up with the cuts.
Councilwoman Cindy Dobbins said, “I’m thrilled we are able to stay within a penny or so of where we were at last year.”
Josh Finch, councilman, said any time the city can operate on a surplus, even a small one, it’s a real luxury that shouldn’t be taken for granted.
Thallemer said, “I just want to note the surplus is just the difference in the numbers. I know there’s some pretty significant cuts that were made in the departments and I have assured the departments we will keep an eye on our revenues. These next two years, that’s going to be the important part. If our revenues go up and there’s concerns with funding for equipment, capital improvements or if there’s issues with personnel, we’re certainly there if those funds are available. This allows us to keep a watch on those revenues, and if we are fortunate enough to realize higher revenues than were estimated ... so be it and we’ll be able to respond if we need to.”
The Council approved 4-0 a motion to acknowledge the receipt of the draft of the 1782 Notice and then approved the resolution by a vote of 5-0.
Have a news tip? Email [email protected] or Call/Text 360-922-3092