City Of Warsaw Works To Keep Its Residents’ Taxes Low
December 20, 2024 at 1:00 a.m.
Lots of work has been done this month to finish up our efforts for 2024 and to also finalize our 2025 budget.
I want to publicly thank the members on the Common Council, the clerk-treasurer, our department heads, community stakeholders and the taxpayers we serve for partnering together during the budget process in 2024 to once again keep the property tax rate steady and low for 2025. On Monday night, due to these efforts, the Common Council was informed by my office and our clerk-treasurer that our property tax rate will be 1.206 for the 2025 budget year.
Like you, we know market forces have resulted in property assessments increasing at a record rate. In the end, this means overall property tax payments have been rising for everyone over the past several years. Again, we are listening and doing everything we can to keep the tax rate in our jurisdiction low. The record over the past decade shows we have been able to maintain and keep our rate steady – even, at times, lowering it from previous years. For example, the property tax rate in 2015 was 1.229 per $100 of property value. In 2020, the rate was lowered to 1.1822. For 2025, the property tax rate will be at 1.206, with the Warsaw-Wayne Fire Territory under the max levy by $596,602 and the city under by $234,941.
Remember, local governments do not have a formal vote in the Indiana General Assembly, and we certainly don’t control changes in the free market. However, we do determine annual spending for services to improve living, working and playing within our own jurisdiction. Wise and appropriate spending, while at the same time promoting policies that will encourage residential, commercial and industrial development, will continue to keep the tax rate steady and low each year.
Let me finish my last column for the year with big “thank you!” to the Warsaw Tiger football team. As a former Tiger athlete, teacher and coach, the qualities, principles and approach displayed on the football field this season were greatly appreciated. The results on the scoreboard in November also gave Coach Bart Curtis, his staff and his players the opportunity to not only experience, but also share, the great satisfaction and reward that comes to those with a “KICK IN and TEAM FIRST” approach to not only sport – but also daily life.
Taking a few words from President Roosevelt, who once said, “The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly … to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause…”
Thank you again, Coach Curtis, for leading a “worthy cause” at WCHS for so many years: the daily teaching and growing our young student-athletes to be “Men in the Arena” for our community. Not only for a season – but for a lifetime.
As you represented us in the arena at Lucas Oil Stadium, the great appreciation and support for your Tiger Football Team was very evident. Before I even found my seat, a longtime friend, with a grin on his face, yelled, “Well, Mayor, did you shut the lights off before you left town?” While turning toward the playing field, I quickly realized what he was getting at … there were hundreds and hundreds of fans – a countless number from endzone to endzone – dressed in orange and black ready to support their Tiger Football Team. Teenagers … willing to be “Teammates Serving Teammates while Cultivating Team Sensibility” had easily filled one side of that giant stadium. The credit belonged to them – they were the role-models that night for not only their peers, but for every adult in our community. What a lesson not only in sport, but life.
Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Let’s continue to make Warsaw the type of place where others easily witness and experience: “Neighbors Serving Neighbors while Cultivating Community” – Team!
This column “… from the Mayor” will provide brief updates, the sharing of opinions, establishing vision, identifying priorities, and offering potential solutions for residents in our community. You may contact my office via email at [email protected] or by phone at 574-372-9595.
Your Neighbor,
Jeff R. Grose
Mayor of Warsaw
Lots of work has been done this month to finish up our efforts for 2024 and to also finalize our 2025 budget.
I want to publicly thank the members on the Common Council, the clerk-treasurer, our department heads, community stakeholders and the taxpayers we serve for partnering together during the budget process in 2024 to once again keep the property tax rate steady and low for 2025. On Monday night, due to these efforts, the Common Council was informed by my office and our clerk-treasurer that our property tax rate will be 1.206 for the 2025 budget year.
Like you, we know market forces have resulted in property assessments increasing at a record rate. In the end, this means overall property tax payments have been rising for everyone over the past several years. Again, we are listening and doing everything we can to keep the tax rate in our jurisdiction low. The record over the past decade shows we have been able to maintain and keep our rate steady – even, at times, lowering it from previous years. For example, the property tax rate in 2015 was 1.229 per $100 of property value. In 2020, the rate was lowered to 1.1822. For 2025, the property tax rate will be at 1.206, with the Warsaw-Wayne Fire Territory under the max levy by $596,602 and the city under by $234,941.
Remember, local governments do not have a formal vote in the Indiana General Assembly, and we certainly don’t control changes in the free market. However, we do determine annual spending for services to improve living, working and playing within our own jurisdiction. Wise and appropriate spending, while at the same time promoting policies that will encourage residential, commercial and industrial development, will continue to keep the tax rate steady and low each year.
Let me finish my last column for the year with big “thank you!” to the Warsaw Tiger football team. As a former Tiger athlete, teacher and coach, the qualities, principles and approach displayed on the football field this season were greatly appreciated. The results on the scoreboard in November also gave Coach Bart Curtis, his staff and his players the opportunity to not only experience, but also share, the great satisfaction and reward that comes to those with a “KICK IN and TEAM FIRST” approach to not only sport – but also daily life.
Taking a few words from President Roosevelt, who once said, “The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly … to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause…”
Thank you again, Coach Curtis, for leading a “worthy cause” at WCHS for so many years: the daily teaching and growing our young student-athletes to be “Men in the Arena” for our community. Not only for a season – but for a lifetime.
As you represented us in the arena at Lucas Oil Stadium, the great appreciation and support for your Tiger Football Team was very evident. Before I even found my seat, a longtime friend, with a grin on his face, yelled, “Well, Mayor, did you shut the lights off before you left town?” While turning toward the playing field, I quickly realized what he was getting at … there were hundreds and hundreds of fans – a countless number from endzone to endzone – dressed in orange and black ready to support their Tiger Football Team. Teenagers … willing to be “Teammates Serving Teammates while Cultivating Team Sensibility” had easily filled one side of that giant stadium. The credit belonged to them – they were the role-models that night for not only their peers, but for every adult in our community. What a lesson not only in sport, but life.
Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Let’s continue to make Warsaw the type of place where others easily witness and experience: “Neighbors Serving Neighbors while Cultivating Community” – Team!
This column “… from the Mayor” will provide brief updates, the sharing of opinions, establishing vision, identifying priorities, and offering potential solutions for residents in our community. You may contact my office via email at [email protected] or by phone at 574-372-9595.
Your Neighbor,
Jeff R. Grose
Mayor of Warsaw