Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Warsaw City Council got down to the serious work of formulating the 2000 city budget Thursday.
While most of the budgets appear to face little opposition from the council when the times comes for final approval, some requests drew some serious questions.
Coming in with the top budget request was the Warsaw Police Department, with Chief Steven Foster seeking $2.781 million for next year.
Mayor Ernie Wiggins said that amount includes a 25 percent increase in the health insurance, but he expects the actual increase to be closer to 13 percent, so that sum would decrease.
One item in the police request - an all-terrain utility cart for use by the parking enforcement officers during inclement weather - raised questions, however.
"I think this is another case of where this may be something that would be nice to have, but can we afford to do it," said councilman Jerry Patterson.
Foster said he believed the cost could be shared with the parks department, who would have access to the utility vehicle during the summer months.
Another question was raised over the building and planning department budget. The $310,000 request would remove the assistant city planner position from the department and raise the salary of city planner Jeff Noffsinger to $40,000 - an 11.1 percent increase
"I think that increase is too much," said councilwoman Tammy Rockey. "None of the other department heads are getting anywhere close to that."
Councilman Paul Siebenmorgen, citing a survey of Indiana municipal wage rates, said that salary would be the highest in the state for cities comparable to Warsaw.
"I did a search on the Internet, and this salary would be on the low side around the country," Noffsinger said. "It's a very competitive market."
Siebenmorgen responded, "But that would mean you would have to leave Warsaw."
The city council will conduct another workshop on the city budget Aug. 9. Final approval is expected in September.
