City Sees Higher Assessed Value; Works Through Department Budgets
City Sees Higher Assessed Value; Works Through Department Budgets
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David Slone-dslone@timesuniononline.com
City Sees Higher Assessed Value; Works Through Department BudgetsBefore delving into the 2020 budgets for five of the city’s departments Monday night, Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer gave the common council some “really good news” about the city’s net assessed valuation.
“We just got some information on our net assessed value. It looks like, as we thought, the net assessed value is going to climb pretty significantly as a result of a lot of the work we’ve done – the projects and the annexations. I don’t want to give a specific number tonight because we’re still kind of muddling through that ... but it looks to be pretty significant,” he said.
Last year, the city’s final assessed value was $917,711,317, and the Warsaw-Wayne Fire Territory’s was $1.374 billion.
“And it looks to me like we’re going to be significantly above that, which should really help with our tax rate,” Thallemer said.
Thallemer said another impact to the AV will be the properties that were given three-year abatements. He wasn’t sure if those numbers were reflected in the figures that the city received Monday on the AV, which was why he wanted to hold off before announcing any numbers.
Another thing that affected all of the proposed 2020 budgets is that 2020 will have 27 pay periods in it, instead of the typical 26. Thallemer said that occurs about every 10 years.
A last item that will have an impact on the proposed budgets, Thallemer said, is that he was contacted by the Aim Medical Trust and was told that Aim is advising municipalities to put in a 3% increase for their premium increase for this year, and that was for the entire trust. After reviewing the city’s experience with the medical trust, he said the city may end up with an increase below that 3%. The city typically builds in a 15% increase for cushion. Last year the city had an 8% increase.
“Now we have an opportunity to take a lot of that out as well,” Thallemer said.
Airport Manager Nick King presented the aviation department’s proposed 2020 budget first.
The department typically has two budgets. Ninety-five percent of the profit the airport makes on fuel sales, oil sales, land cash rent or elsewhere goes into the general operating fund; the remaining 5% goes into the depreciation fund (also known as a capital improvement program fund). King said the depreciation fund for 2020 will be zero as the money in the fund is being rolled over into 2021 for some capital projects.
The 2020 general fund is proposed at $1,042,971, a 23.7% increase over 2019’s $843,116. Big chunks of that increase will go toward runway, hangar and other improvements and machinery.
City Planner Jeremy Skinner presented six budgets.
Building and planning department’s proposed 2020 budget is $798,995, a 5% increase over 2019.
The Warsaw Technology Park budget “is the increment we get from the state based off the sales tax and employee taxes,” Skinner said. The 2020 budget is $292,000, while the 2019 budget was $692,000.
“The state is very specific with what they allow you to spend these funds for,” Thallemer said, which include accelerator development and infrastructure improvements within the park itself. “The whole idea is to develop high-tech opportunities for high-tech manufacturing through accelerator development and other means. And that’s the whole purpose of the tech park.”
The Redevelopment General Fund had roughly $460,000 on hand at the end of 2018. In 2019, expected revenue was $170,000, which provided funding totaling $630,000. The fund had a budget in 2019 of $331,000, with $300,000 dedicated to the senior housing project on East Market Street, which left an expected balance for 2020 of $298,000, with roughly $170,000 in revenue, “so roughly $460,000 in 2020 to budget with,” Skinner said. The fund “runs” the Redevelopment Commission, providing the board with office supplies, travel and any needed professional services, and is an actual tax-supported budget.
The Redevelopment Allocation Fund (Downtown TIF district) had a balance of $719,923 in 2018, with a revenue of $310,000 to provide a total of $1,029,923 in funds for 2019. 2019’s budget was $548,235, with most of that set aside for capital outlays including for the Buffalo Street project. Since most of 2019’s funds won’t be used this year, Skinner said that will be in the reserves for 2020 and on. He said expected revenue for 2020 is $791,688, with $434,750 budgeted for 2020.
The Eastern TIF District was combined with the Northern TIF district. Redevelopment Northern TIF had a 2019 beginning balance of $4,528,199 and a year-end balance of $1,460,285. Expected revenue for 2020 is $3.1 million, providing abut $4.5 million in total funds for 2020. Skinner budgeted $3,305,157.50 for 2020, which includes money for various bond payments and infrastructure projects.
The last budget Skinner presented was the smallest, the Winona Interurban TIF District. “This is a prime example of a TIF district that hasn’t been able to accomplish those goals, so it’s not creating revenue,” he said. Its balance has been growing since 2001, but only had $58,522 in 2019, with an expected revenue of $8,300, ending 2019 at $66,822. Of that $50,000 was put in for a potential match for blight clearing funding, leaving the fund’s balance at the end of 2019 at $16,822, though that match probably won’t be spent this year. Revenue for 2020 is expected at $8,300, leaving total funds for 2020 at $25,122. The $25,000 of that will be put back in capital outlays, leaving a 2020 year-end balance of $122.
Oakwood Cemetery sexton Hal Heagy then presented his two budgets. The cemetery fund is proposed at $762,861, a 7% increase over 2019’s $707,558.
The permanent fund is created from half the lot sales. The money is invested, but a portion is kept out to “do anything permanent,” Heagy said. For 2020, the budget was increased 8% to $115,000 over 2019. The money will be used for trees, a new road and a stone wall.
Public Works Superintendent Jeff Beeler presented five budgets. Total proposed for the general fund for 2020 is $5,450,105, about a 14% increase over 2019’s $4,777,324. The largest piece of that increase is due to a 108.38% increase in machinery and equipment. Beeler wants to purchase two single-axle plow trucks at $200,000 each; a tack trailer at $20,000; a paver at $180,000; a skid loader at $70,000; a small loader at $140,000; and two pickup trucks at $30,000 each.
The county wheel tax fund was split out of the Motor Vehicle Highway Fund and put into its own budget. Beeler said he asked Clerk-Treasurer Lynne Christiansen to do that.
“The wheel tax, just like some other funds we’re going to get into here, this year’s MVH funds are all split out, all over different places. I’m going to kind of work you through this to show why you’re seeing that we’re losing 80% of our funding. We are losing some, we’re not losing as much as it shows,” Beeler said.
The budget for 2020 is $300,000. He said money from the wheel tax has to go into the roads. “I cannot buy equipment, buildings or pay my people out of it. I know that’s a big misconception out there of what those things can go to. It goes into your roads or signage, paint striping or traffic signals. Those are things that I can use money for,” Beeler said.
He said the city usually gets $314,000 annually from the wheel tax, but budgets $300,000 to leave a cushion.
Thallemer said the state legislature was “very specific” in how the wheel tax could be spent and he liked that Beeler separated it out.
The MVH fund is based solely on the gasoline tax and is a set rate per gallon. Beeler said the city is about 20% under what it received last year. He said that’s due to the percentage of the tax cities and towns receive being reduced so the state can fund its Major Moves programs.
The MVH fund also has been split into two, a regular fund and a restricted fund, he said. Money can not be dragged out of the restricted fund and into the regular fund, according to new state rules this year. The restricted fund is for building roads only, not buying salt or patch material or anything else, Beeler said. The MVH restricted fund can not be used “for any type of those winter maintenance activities.”
The regular MVH proposed 2020 budget is $300,000, an 81.25% decrease from 2019’s $1.6 million. The restricted MVH budget, new this year, also is $300,000.
Beeler’s last budget was Local Roads and Streets, which he said was “not affected by that 20% reduction” formula “so far.” Its 2020 proposed budget is $250,000, a 25% increase over 2019’s $200,000.
The last budget presented Monday was by Human Resources Director Jennifer Whitaker. She said the 2020 proposed budget was $261,963, an increase of $21,786 over the 2019 budget of $240,177.
No action on the budgets presented Monday was taken. Discussion about other city departments’ budgets will be held at 6 p.m. Aug. 19 at city hall.
