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While the Warsaw Common Council still has to vote on the proposed 2027 budgets presented to them on Monday, Aug. 3 and Aug. 17, council members praised the city department heads Monday after the last half of the budgets were presented.
Councilwoman Cindy Dobbins said, “I am really impressed with what all the department heads have done in working through the budgets and everything, and trying to make sure that we have what we need but not going overboard.”
Council members Mike Klondaris, Diane Quance, Jack Wilhite, Juergen Voss and Mayor Jeff Grose also praised the department heads and city employees, with Wilhite saying it’s due to the city having a “good team.”
Presenting the first set of budgets on Monday was Community and Economic Development Director Jeremy Skinner.
On the Economic Development Income Tax (EDIT) budget, Skinner said the total was $1,863,000, a decrease of $750 from 2026’s budget. That will leave a year-end balance in 2027 of $4,553,436.12.
“Obviously, EDIT’s future, at this point, is very much in crisis, so we’ll keep an eye on that as we move forward. But, for now, we have a healthy balance and we’ll continue to do projects that are centered around economic development within this budget,” Skinner said, referring to the effects of Indiana Senate Bill 1.
Up next, the Riverboat Fund is proposed at $200,000, the same as 2026. The Rainy Day Fund is proposed at $100,000, similar to 2026. The EDIT Revolving Loan Fund is proposed at $125,000, down from $300,000 in 2026; and the Cumulative Capital Development is proposed at $675,000, an increase from 2026’s $625,000 budget.
Oakwood Cemetery Sexton Hal Heagy presented his budgets next, which the cemetery’s board of regents approved at their meeting Aug. 6. The cemetery’s main budget for 2027 is proposed at $985,894, up 4.2% from 2026’s budget. His permanent fund is proposed at $170,000 up from $145,000 in 2026.
Warsaw-Wayne Fire Territory Chief Joel Shilling presented his four budgets, which were approved by the WWFT Board at their meeting Aug. 4. The hazardous materials response fund is proposed at $7,100, up from $1,200 in 2026; operating fund, $7,590,550, up 6.69% from $7,114,410 in 2026; equipment replacement fund, $1 million, down 28.13% from $1,391,450 in 2026; and fire pension fund, $281,480, up 2.18% from $275,480 in 2026.
The operating fund includes three new firefighters and one new inspector. Dobbins asked if the new firefighters will help alleviate some of the overtime. Shilling said it will and that was the point of the new hires.
Human Resource Director Denny Harlan had only one budget to present. He proposed it at $292,138 in 2027, up $5,120 from $287,018 in the 2026 budget.
Grose presented the budget for the mayor’s office at $265,818, showing a $697 decrease from the 2026 budget of $266,515.
He also presented the council’s budget for 2027 at $2,788,318, which is down from the 2026 budget of $3,383,058 that included the new City Hall HVAC system. Without the new HVAC system, the council’s 2026 budget would have been $2,537,058.
As for contracts in the council’s budget, with nonprofit organizations, he said they’re “holding the line” and supporting the organizations they’ve supported in the past with the same amount in 2027 as 2026 due to concerns such as Senate Bill 1. A couple new organizations (Fellowship Missions and Wagon Wheel) applied, but the committee recommended not to entertain their requests this year.
The organizations recommended for funds for 2027 include $30,000 for KABS; $110,000, Animal Welfare League; $27,500, Lilly Lakes & Streams; $16,500, Beaman Home; $7,800, Safe Harbor; $35,000, Warsaw Housing Authority; $27,500, Kosciusko County Senior Services; $55,000, Main Street Warsaw; and $55,000 for facade grants.
The council’s proposed 2027 budget also includes $35,000 for the 2027 city elections that the city has to pay for.
The opioid settlement unrestricted and restricted funds come from the national opioid settlement. For 2027, they are proposed at $49,000 and $128,000, respectively.
The last budgets were from the Street Department, presented by Street Superintendent Joe Vetor.
His general fund for 2027 is proposed at $7,553,485, up about 4.97% from $7,195,805 in 2026.
His other four budgets were kept the same in 2027 as 2026, including $350,000 for the Motor Vehicle Highway Fund; $300,000 for Local Roads and Streets; $350,000 for MVH restricted; and $600,000 for Wheel Tax.
On the Wheel Tax, Grose said, “Wheel Tax coming from the county. About a half million dollars you’re seeing, just general speak. That certainly could change moving forward, but right now I’m hoping that it will stay the same, it’ll come through the county, and we won’t have to look in a different direction moving forward. We’ll just have to wait and see as we move forward.”
In other business, the council:
• Approved a resolution determining the existence of deer nuisance areas for 2026 that will establish deer reduction zones.
Grose said the city has participated in the deer reduction efforts for over two decades. Over 1,000 deer have been taken within the city limits, and over 90% of those were does. In 2025, 52 deer were taken by bow and arrow, and 45 of those were doe. Twenty-one of the 52 were fully donated.
Training for archers will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 20 at the Warsaw Police Department. Grose estimated they will have between 50 to 75 potential archers that will “come in, they’ll go through some training, they’ll be out here shooting at the range with their own equipment.” In the next week or two, the leadership team will select a group of archers.
• Had a public hearing on a resolution waving the non-compliance of a tax abatement deduction filing for Zimmer Biomet. No one from the public spoke either for or against the resolution, so the council approved it. Skinner attributed the non-compliance to typographical errors in the tax abatements that were submitted.
The council then approved the three tax abatements compliance forms, one for Zimmer Inc. and two for Biomet Mfg. LLC. Skinner recommended the continuation of the three tax abatements.
• On first reading, a transfer ordinance as requested by Skinner. The final reading will be at the council’s next meeting. The transfers include $3,516.78 from Redevelopment Allocation Capital Fund to Northern TIF Fund and $573,514.30 from Redevelopment Allocation Fund to Northern TIF Fund.
He explained, “This ordinance is transferring funds from two Redevelopment accounts that are now being removed to the Northern TIF. So, a few years ago we combined these TIF districts so the Allocation Fund was combined with the Northern TIF, and all that money is going into the combined Northern TIF now. There’s still money in those funds, so we need to transfer those funds into the Northern TIF Fund and then those two funds will be deleted from the system as they no longer existed.”
