[0:01] You are watching Access
[0:03] LaPorte County Channel 97. Next up is the
[0:08] Long Beach Budget and Finance Committee meeting on
[0:09] September 1st. You can
[0:11] find more
[0:12] information about this
[0:14] meeting at
[0:16] www.accesslaportecounty.org.
[0:23] Okay, this is the
[0:25] budget and
[0:26] finance meeting on September 1st, and
[0:27] we are preparing for the
[0:28] first reading of
[0:29] the budget at the
[0:30] September
[0:31] Council meeting. I
[0:35] don't have my phone with me
[0:36] , but it
[0:37] seems to be...I don't know the
[0:38] date. Maybe the 14th?
[0:41] Yes. So, I made an
[0:43] agenda, but I
[0:44] didn't print it out.
[0:47] It's just...Regarding the
[0:48] monthly
[0:49] financial reports, the
[0:50] July projections
[0:51] have been completed, but
[0:52] I need to
[0:53] send them out, which I will
[0:54] do this
[0:55] afternoon to the
[0:56] department heads and the
[0:57] board. I'm almost
[1:00] done updating the
[1:01] overhaul plan
[1:02] that is
[1:03] part of the July one.
[1:04] So, I'll send them, and
[1:05] then, uh, the bank
[1:07] recommendations, you know,
[1:08] today is the 1st, so
[1:10] they're not ready yet, but
[1:11] hopefully they'll be
[1:12] ready
[1:13] today and tomorrow.
[1:15] We didn't get our
[1:16] Bank of New
[1:17] York statements from the person
[1:18] I requested them from
[1:20] last month, so
[1:21] we just had to
[1:22] wait for the mail, which
[1:24] arrives around the
[1:25] 21st of the month. So
[1:27] we really can't
[1:29] close the books until we
[1:30] get that
[1:31] bank interest
[1:32] from New York. So
[1:35] hopefully he
[1:36] will send them on time
[1:37] this month, but by
[1:38] next July this
[1:39] bank entry
[1:40] will be complete, so
[1:42] once the debt is
[1:43] paid off, that's the
[1:46] financial part. The
[1:48] overhaul plan
[1:49] looks
[1:50] good. We need to
[1:51] discuss, but
[1:52] Tristan, I'll
[1:53] discuss this in a little
[1:54] more detail first, but it's the
[1:55] paving of Marsh Court, and
[1:57] what we can
[1:58] afford over the course of the
[1:59] year. And it looks like we
[2:03] can, but I'd like to
[2:04] look at it
[2:05] now that I've updated
[2:07] this capital plan.
[2:11] And then I know that Paul
[2:13] Wolzak wants
[2:14] to meet with Trista
[2:15] and me again, or even
[2:16] just Trista, to
[2:17] find out about
[2:18] funding for the
[2:19] park project across the street.
[2:23] So, once we
[2:24] know the
[2:25] parks development plan,
[2:26] they have a major
[2:28] tennis court renovation in the
[2:29] overhaul plan
[2:30] . For 250,000. I
[2:36] think the first phase is
[2:38] actually
[2:38] going to take more
[2:40] money, but the parks
[2:41] are trying to come
[2:42] up with a plan for
[2:43] how they're going to
[2:44] handle this
[2:45] bigger project,
[2:46] you know, borrow
[2:48] money to do
[2:49] all of this instead of
[2:50] dragging it out for a
[2:51] few years. So it is
[2:57] being discussed. Uh, are there
[3:00] any other questions about the
[3:01] overhaul
[3:03] ? I know I didn't
[3:04] print the master plan
[3:06] , but think of what else
[3:08] I had to discuss. Hmm.
[3:11] Yes, well, well.
[3:14] So I just wanted to
[3:15] tell you, as far as the
[3:17] overhaul plan is concerned
[3:18] , the fire department will
[3:19] have a figure from
[3:20] the vendor along
[3:21] with a quote
[3:22] from at least
[3:23] one or two banks
[3:24] , so you have a
[3:25] rough idea
[3:26] of ​​how much it
[3:27] might come out to at the
[3:28] September
[3:28] council meeting. We
[3:29] will try to provide
[3:31] this to you in advance so that
[3:32] you have it. But
[3:33] essentially, we'll have,
[3:34] you know, an idea of ​​what it's like to
[3:36] specify,
[3:37] you know, an exact figure
[3:38] approximately, as well as, um
[3:40] , bank charges.
[3:41] You know, I know you
[3:42] guys are getting this
[3:43] from the Indiana
[3:44] Bond Bank,
[3:45] but it would just be
[3:46] something to
[3:47] present to the council.
[3:48] Perfectly.
[3:49] And as we've said
[3:49] before, either we'll
[3:50] introduce a
[3:51] user fee to
[3:52] help
[3:52] pay for that, or we'll
[3:53] leverage some of those
[3:54] purchase funds that
[3:55] you're talking about,
[3:56] or...
[3:57] Okay. Thank you. Good.
[4:08] Then we
[4:11] will move on to the budget.
[4:20] Trista reviewed with
[4:22] me and helped
[4:23] work on
[4:24] some more of our
[4:26] salary articles, which
[4:26] seem to be...you know, we're
[4:28] looking at it, and we're going
[4:29] to discuss today the
[4:30] overall
[4:32] cost of living increase that
[4:33] we would recommend to the
[4:34] council, and the city council
[4:44] held a closed
[4:44] session and
[4:45] discussed a few
[4:46] items. So, I think
[4:50] we'll
[4:51] discuss that a little bit today, and we'll
[4:52] touch on that.
[4:58] So, the first smaller
[4:59] package is the general
[5:01] fund. Tristo, do
[5:04] you have a preference for where to
[5:05] start? Good. So,
[5:09] general fund, first
[5:11] page is the
[5:12] clerk's office. And, um, if you
[5:18] look at the bottom, you'll
[5:19] see the adopted
[5:21] budget for 2026 for
[5:22] 222, and then the
[5:23] proposed
[5:24] budget for 238, you'll
[5:26] see that the
[5:27] biggest increase
[5:28] was in the line
[5:29] highlighted in
[5:31] purple, health
[5:33] insurance. So, hmm, the
[5:37] new employee has a
[5:39] family plan and that's an
[5:40] expense.
[5:43] Otherwise, hmm, most of it
[5:45] remained
[5:46] pretty flat. Hmm,
[5:49] any questions?
[5:55] Hmm, just, hmm, hmm,
[5:56] proportional to LC.
[5:59] Wait, Tristo,
[6:01] can you turn it on? That's
[6:03] it.
[6:04] I got used to them when we
[6:05] entered the room. I
[6:07] forgot they weren't there. Hmm,
[6:09] a few points very
[6:10] quickly about
[6:11] wages so there
[6:12] are no questions.
[6:16] The small
[6:18] budget cut for the
[6:19] clerk-treasurer line
[6:20] simply, ahem,
[6:20] confirms
[6:21] the proportion between the
[6:22] general fund and the
[6:23] other two funds.
[6:26] Uh, it's 80 divided by 10 divided by
[6:28] 10%. So, some of
[6:30] the responsibilities of the clerk-
[6:31] treasurer are to
[6:32] oversee some
[6:33] other municipal
[6:34] funds
[6:35] related to water,
[6:36] garbage, and storm
[6:37] sewers. Uh,
[6:39] the costs are then also
[6:40] distributed between
[6:41] these funds. And
[6:42] the salary remains
[6:43] the same for this
[6:45] particular line. There is
[6:46] no promotion
[6:47] foreseen or
[6:48] planned for this position
[6:49] .
[6:51] The reduction of the clerical assistant position
[6:54] is
[6:55] simply due to a change in
[6:56] personnel based on
[6:57] salary history,
[6:59] etc. So the current
[7:05] clerical assistant
[7:06] in the
[7:07] treasurer's office has a lower
[7:08] salary than
[7:09] previous
[7:09] employees. It's not that
[7:11] this
[7:12] particular person's
[7:13] salary was reduced. This
[7:15] , of course, reduces
[7:16] social
[7:17] security and everything
[7:18] related to it.
[7:20] So, this
[7:22] insurance position costs 20
[7:24] thousand, and this one costs 160. This is for
[7:25] one employee
[7:27] . And then we have to
[7:29] pay the other one, I'm
[7:30] looking at 26 of them
[7:32] within 20% of the polls
[7:33] . Uh, then
[7:34] insurance.
[7:36] Good.
[7:37] This is for one
[7:38] employee.
[7:40] , and I'm not sure
[7:42] last year's
[7:42] proportion was
[7:43] entirely accurate. She
[7:45] was close. But
[7:47] yes, it is expensive.
[7:51] Well, that's with a 15
[7:51] percent
[7:52] increase in
[7:53] health
[7:54] insurance. So I'll
[7:59] check if
[7:59] I've specified everything correctly
[8:00] for this. But
[8:02] maybe I'm trying to
[8:03] think...Yeah, I'll
[8:08] see where I
[8:10] got that number from. Well, I
[8:15] think if we
[8:16] look at...Yeah, I
[8:23] mean the
[8:24] total cost between
[8:26] the city and the
[8:26] employees this
[8:28] year is
[8:29] about 300,000. Hmm. So
[8:32] the city pays 80,
[8:33] the workers pay 20.
[8:35] Um, you know, for example,
[8:37] the police are 104,000. The High
[8:43] Street, uh, is
[8:44] betting for us. Yes. Well,
[8:46] we moved from
[8:47] Machiana just
[8:47] last year. So this
[8:49] was our first year with
[8:50] High Street. And they don't
[8:51] know what the
[8:52] increase will be, but they
[8:54] recommended a
[8:54] 15% budget increase,
[8:56] which they did
[8:57] last year, and I
[8:58] think it
[8:59] increased by
[9:00] 8.7.
[9:02] Yes, 8,7 or 8, I'm
[9:04] thinking about that too. So,
[9:06] fortunately, it wasn't that
[9:07] much, but, um...And I don't
[9:08] think
[9:10] we've had a lot of statements this year,
[9:11] but I think that's
[9:12] just what the market will do
[9:14] . We'll see. But
[9:16] yes, I will consider it because
[9:17] it seems
[9:18] high. Hmm...
[9:20] Any other questions about the
[9:21] clerk? Good. So,
[9:30] next we have, uh, the
[9:31] city council just
[9:33] remains
[9:34] stable, 12,000
[9:35] on top. And then we
[9:38] move on to the
[9:38] administrative
[9:39] part of the city. And
[9:44] we see that the budget
[9:48] has actually decreased,
[9:49] again, because of
[9:51] health insurance.
[9:54] So, we're making
[9:55] records, breaking
[9:56] them down by department,
[9:57] just not as much
[9:58] as we did
[9:59] last year's budget, I
[10:01] needed to
[10:01] figure out this breakthrough
[10:03] because we changed
[10:04] insurance. So you'll
[10:08] see that 35,800, uh,
[10:09] that's about
[10:10] half of what we
[10:13] budgeted last
[10:14] year. Based on the fact that
[10:17] you will see the
[10:17] actual costs that
[10:19] go here. So, I kind of
[10:22] broke down the expenses,
[10:23] but it was after the
[10:24] budget. Therefore.
[10:26] And this line
[10:27] of insurance is
[10:28] property
[10:28] liability,
[10:29] right?
[10:30] Oh, yes. You are right.
[10:32] Therefore.
[10:32] Yeah, it's not even
[10:34] for you all to
[10:34] do Civic,
[10:35] I think we should
[10:36] change the name of this,
[10:36] or at least I can
[10:37] change it in my
[10:38] spreadsheet
[10:38] so it's like this:
[10:39] Yes, I can, I can
[10:40] make this change. Yes.
[10:43] On property.
[10:44] That way, there will be no
[10:46] confusion that this
[10:46] corresponds to health
[10:48] insurance, because that's not the
[10:49] line.
[10:49] Good. Because I
[10:51] just made this
[10:52] mistake. Emm. Mhm. Well,
[11:10] it's just a difference in
[11:12] how it was
[11:13] provided to us by Mishawaka,
[11:14] how we made the records, and
[11:15] how High Street provides it to
[11:17] us. So, they
[11:19] send all this
[11:20] breakthrough that we have to
[11:21] pay
[11:22] quarterly. And then
[11:25] , uh,
[11:27] the police
[11:28] department's budget allocation was also
[11:29] completely out of order.
[11:30] Yes, I have changed a little.
[11:32] We have changed a little.
[11:35] Yes, you will see that there
[11:36] is actually
[11:37] insurance under the
[11:38] fire department and
[11:39] public
[11:40] safety building. We have a drone.
[11:44] We have all the new
[11:45] equipment that
[11:46] has increased it in some ways in
[11:47] some areas. So,
[11:49] yeah, we'll keep
[11:50] moving forward and you
[11:51] can see the
[11:52] rest. Um, I increased my
[11:55] electricity and
[11:57] gas costs by 15, 14% or 15, I
[11:58] think.
[11:59] 15?
[12:00] And then we'll
[12:04] keep this
[12:05] administrative
[12:08] emergency type of budget at
[12:09] 75,000. And then
[12:11] we have this capital
[12:12] budget of 20,000.
[12:16] So, again,
[12:17] that budget has actually
[12:19] decreased. Um, that's
[12:21] good.
[12:22] I see this line for the
[12:23] public
[12:24] safety building.
[12:25] Yes.
[12:25] It is now
[12:28] 233,000.
[12:29] No, these are old lines. You
[12:31] will see these red
[12:33] squares later.
[12:35] When the
[12:35] public safety building
[12:37] went live, we
[12:37] removed them so we
[12:39] could
[12:39] keep better track.
[12:43] Okay, the next
[12:44] page is the
[12:45] construction
[12:45] department. So,
[12:49] they are not currently
[12:50] hiring
[12:51] for a
[12:52] building
[12:53] inspector position. But we are
[12:55] budgeting in the
[12:56] hope that we will
[12:57] fill this position.
[13:00] So, uh, you'll see
[13:01] this line for
[13:02] hourly pay
[13:04] . And then the
[13:07] clerical
[13:08] worker is an
[13:09] employee of our
[13:10] construction department
[13:11] who works in this
[13:13] office, and that
[13:14] salary is split
[13:15] between the
[13:16] construction fund and the
[13:17] stormwater fund.
[13:21] I think I should
[13:22] start with this whole
[13:24] budget, uh, Tristan
[13:25] , I'm going to take
[13:26] it out of the general
[13:28] fund under the
[13:29] new requirement that
[13:30] goes into effect on
[13:31] January 1st. And we both
[13:36] agree that
[13:37] we want to remove it
[13:38] for the budget, rather than
[13:39] do it in January
[13:40] when we have to
[13:41] do it. So, we're
[13:44] going to
[13:45] prepare, and we
[13:46] might have to
[13:47] do a temporary
[13:48] loan from the general
[13:49] fund into the new
[13:50] construction fund to
[13:51] start paying the
[13:52] bills until we
[13:53] get
[13:54] some revenue there. So,
[13:55] we'll start
[13:56] getting
[13:57] registrations, but we're
[13:58] getting more
[13:59] permits, you know,
[14:00] seasonally. So, have
[14:03] you made adjustments
[14:05] to the fees or instead of
[14:06] last
[14:07] year,
[14:09] No, this is Tristan, and
[14:10] I have a note regarding the
[14:12] building permit fees. I
[14:14] need to talk
[14:15] to Larry and see
[14:16] if he has any
[14:17] desire to increase them.
[14:19] Chris will recommend that
[14:20] if we
[14:21] are going to
[14:22] scale up at all, we should
[14:23] do it. Yes. Yes. I
[14:27] think there
[14:31] was a
[14:32] discussion last year, even before this legislation was passed, that this
[14:33] process never
[14:34] went ahead. Um,
[14:36] the rates have never been
[14:38] increased, but I
[14:39] think it's
[14:40] worth looking at
[14:41] them now and assessing, and
[14:43] what the rates are for this
[14:44] next
[14:45] legislation.
[14:46] Well, the law
[14:48] says you
[14:48] can
[14:50] only increase them once every 5 years,
[14:51] and then based on the
[14:52] CPI increase. Um, but
[14:57] the option after that
[14:58] period, literally the
[14:59] grammatical
[15:00] construction period,
[15:01] says: "However,
[15:02] if costs have increased
[15:03] and the council has a public
[15:05] hearing, then they
[15:06] can increase
[15:07] rates." So, that's
[15:11] right.
[15:12] How about... It's a
[15:17] good idea to evaluate them
[15:19] and make sure
[15:20] we're looking at
[15:21] the revenues in relation to the
[15:22] actual expenses that are
[15:23] incurred.
[15:26] So, it's...
[15:33] Yeah, health
[15:34] insurance and other
[15:36] things. Um, where does this
[15:37] apply?
[15:39] Currently, two
[15:40] building employees who
[15:41] currently work for us do not
[15:42] receive health
[15:43] insurance.
[15:47] Part-
[15:48] time and contract
[15:49] situation. Yes. Yes.
[16:02] So, um...So, yeah, those are the
[16:03] two salaries
[16:05] on top. And then as
[16:08] you work your way down, there are
[16:09] some materials.
[16:11] We currently pay
[16:12] LaPorte County to
[16:13] perform our
[16:14] electrical
[16:15] inspections. So, this is a
[16:16] line for an
[16:17] electrical inspector.
[16:19] Uh, the building
[16:21] commissioner has increased
[16:24] the hours in the
[16:25] last few
[16:26] months due to the fact that
[16:27] we don't have a
[16:28] building
[16:29] inspector. So, uh,
[16:33] Tristan and I
[16:34] have looked at both of those
[16:35] lines and we think
[16:36] we have enough
[16:37] budget to cover
[16:38] any scenario
[16:39] where once we
[16:40] hire an inspector,
[16:42] you know, Larry will have
[16:43] fewer hours in that
[16:44] role. Uh, and so
[16:50] Larry also has some
[16:52] budget in the
[16:53] stormwater fund for the
[16:54] MS4 points that we're going to
[16:55] try to allocate
[17:00] this year so we
[17:01] can use
[17:02] that budget for some of
[17:04] his hourly
[17:04] costs. You know,
[17:08] he spent
[17:09] a lot of time
[17:10] moving sand this year, which
[17:12] I think
[17:13] qualifies as MS4.
[17:15] So I think we
[17:20] have enough
[17:21] budget for these lines
[17:22] now. Thank you. Good
[17:56] point. According to
[17:58] the directory, this role
[17:59] does not include
[18:00] health
[18:01] insurance, but that's a
[18:02] good thing. Yes, because it is
[18:04] general
[18:05] underemployment. Eh, but it's
[18:07] good to remember that
[18:08] . Depending on
[18:11] who they ultimately
[18:12] want to
[18:12] hire for it. Good. Uh, are there
[18:15] any more questions? I don't
[18:16] think there's anything
[18:17] more. We keep the
[18:19] legal information
[18:20] regarding BCA below.
[18:22] So you'll see that
[18:24] total is just
[18:26] under 220,000. The average
[18:27] income, um, for your
[18:29] planning and
[18:30] building permits, various
[18:32] fees, inspections, etc.
[18:34] Um, let me
[18:38] reveal something. Um, the
[18:44] actual average
[18:45] incomes have been hovering, um
[18:47] , um, around 200.
[18:48] One year we were
[18:50] just under 200. Another
[18:51] year we were just
[18:53] over 200. The year we
[18:54] were higher, it was
[18:56] because of a big
[18:57] project that was
[18:58] going on. And so, uh
[19:01] , going back to the
[19:02] original conversation.
[19:06] Now when you see
[19:07] that the expenses here
[19:08] are 220
[19:09] compared to our
[19:10] average income
[19:12] which is only
[19:13] 200, uh, there is, um, the question of
[19:14] further consideration of
[19:16] these fees.
[19:22] Good. The next
[19:25] area on the next
[19:26] page starts
[19:27] with the police station. And
[19:30] let's see.
[19:36] Again, this
[19:37] group insurance is
[19:39] growing thanks to this 15
[19:40] % for the budget.
[19:42] I hope this won't
[19:43] be our actual
[19:44] expenses, but we
[19:45] plan for it in the budget
[19:46] . And everything else
[19:47] remained
[19:48] stable. So, uh,
[19:50] besides that, I think, oh,
[19:52] no, this top line.
[19:57] You will see the
[19:58] salary increase, the
[19:59] top two lines.
[20:02] Overtime
[20:03] will remain
[20:04] unchanged. So, yeah,
[20:08] I think it's just
[20:10] insurance that has
[20:11] raised this issue a little bit. Are there
[20:16] any more questions?
[20:21] How much does the police
[20:22] pay for their
[20:23] insurance?
[20:26] They pay 20%.
[20:28] Mhm. Yes.
[20:33] But this year we've had
[20:34] some
[20:35] changes, I would say
[20:37] at least four
[20:38] changes
[20:42] or maybe even
[20:43] more people
[20:43] increasing their plan
[20:45] from employee to family.
[20:49] So we had a few of
[20:50] those changes, which also
[20:51] contributes to that
[20:52] increase. So, they have a few...
[20:58] They should
[20:59] get the full
[21:01] 20%. The city still
[21:04] pays 80%.
[21:05] Mhm.
[21:06] Yes, but the cost of
[21:07] this simply increases
[21:09] for the employee and
[21:10] the city. So.
[21:16] Okay, and then we
[21:17] mentioned earlier about the
[21:18] fire zone, which has
[21:19] certain funds for
[21:20] supplies and
[21:21] insurance. And then
[21:26] equipment maintenance. So it
[21:29] remains about the
[21:31] same as last
[21:33] year, and then
[21:34] similarly with the
[21:35] public
[21:36] safety building, you know, we
[21:38] had 25 and 26 to
[21:39] see what those
[21:40] actual costs are, and
[21:44] so...I think we're
[21:46] budgeting
[21:47] as best we can.
[21:49] Let's say it
[21:50] increased by 10,000.
[22:03] Generator, oh, for the
[22:04] building. Is that what you
[22:06] mean? I think
[22:08] I probably
[22:09] need to add this to the
[22:10] capital
[22:11] expenditure plan. Regarding the
[22:13] dual
[22:14] generator, yes. Yeah,
[22:18] I don't know what
[22:20] stage he's at with this. I
[22:21] know he got a
[22:23] price quote,
[22:24] maybe from...Okay.
[22:29] Yes, I'm making a note,
[22:30] and I don't think it's
[22:32] in the capital expenditure plan right now
[22:33] ,
[22:34] but it probably
[22:35] needs to be added. So
[22:37] ...I think the cost of
[22:38] this requires
[22:39] capital, not
[22:40] operating
[22:41] costs. Yes. Okay,
[22:44] thank you. Christo, do you have
[23:01] this file open?
[23:03] Can you
[23:04] check if the
[23:05] total budget
[23:06] has been increased by 10,000?
[23:07] Sorry. Good. Yeah,
[23:11] so I guess we
[23:12] don't have a total
[23:13] for...Oh, we do. 27,500.
[23:15] So, really, it's the
[23:16] same budget for
[23:17] fire and
[23:18] public safety.
[23:19] Excuse my eyes...And
[23:21] then you'll see our
[23:22] overall
[23:23] budget increase of about
[23:24] $10,000. And then,
[23:29] Tristo, do
[23:30] the numbers already show a 3%
[23:32] increase?
[23:33] Right. So, the
[23:36] salary increase is
[23:38] still at 3%,
[23:39] so you have a frame
[23:40] above. With respect to
[23:46] general
[23:48] fund revenues, you will recall
[23:53] that we previously
[24:00] discussed
[24:03] increasing the statutory levy
[24:05] by 6% instead of 4%.
[24:06] As I mentioned, this is
[24:08] an increase of
[24:10] $30,500 between them.
[24:12] So, $30,000
[24:13] more than you
[24:14] expected compared
[24:15] to last year.
[24:18] However, this figure has
[24:19] not yet decreased due to the
[24:20] shutdown effect,
[24:22] so we need
[24:23] to be careful
[24:24] not to just run away
[24:25] from here, praising ourselves
[24:26] for winning the
[24:28] entire $30,530.
[24:32] However, overall, as far as the
[24:34] general fund is concerned,
[24:35] our miscellaneous income, on a
[24:37] conservative
[24:38] estimate,
[24:39] will be
[24:40] around 760,000. This
[24:41] includes bank
[24:42] interest,
[24:43] various other
[24:44] things for which you
[24:48] collect various fees.
[24:51] This also now
[24:51] includes the 200,000 from the construction fund that
[24:54] we talked about, which
[24:55] will go towards the new
[24:56] construction and
[24:57] building fund. A
[24:59] new levy is expected
[25:00] for the general
[25:01] fund because that
[25:03] total increase
[25:04] I mentioned of 30,000 is
[25:06] prorated among
[25:07] your three
[25:08] funds that
[25:09] receive
[25:10] property taxes: the general
[25:11] fund, the MVH fund, and the
[25:13] parks fund.
[25:16] The general fund
[25:17] receives, hmm, almost
[25:18] not bad, a little
[25:19] over 50% of the
[25:20] total collection. But
[25:23] the bottom line is that
[25:24] overall, the new
[25:25] maximum levy to the
[25:26] general fund
[25:27] will be just
[25:28] over 900,000. Again, that's
[25:29] before
[25:30] deducting any
[25:31] circuit breakers
[25:32] . Without calculating
[25:36] circuit
[25:37] breakers, your income
[25:39] will be a little
[25:40] over 1,600,000. And
[25:41] looking at
[25:42] our total
[25:43] budget, which
[25:44] is a little
[25:45] under 1,600,000, I'm
[25:46] sure this
[25:48] budget will be quite
[25:49] balanced. Um,
[25:54] mathematically, uh, there's an
[25:56] 80% difference, sorry,
[25:57] $80,000 between
[25:59] the projected
[26:00] revenues before the
[26:01] circuit
[26:02] breakers and the budget
[26:04] that's listed here.
[26:07] So, circuit
[26:08] breakers
[26:09] could well add close
[26:11] to 80,000 to the general
[26:12] fund. We have 63,000 for
[26:14] this year. We expect
[26:16] them to increase slightly
[26:18] based on changes in
[26:19] deductions. So I
[26:22] believe this budget
[26:23] can be safely
[26:24] adopted. If we
[26:28] reduced the raise by
[26:30] maybe two or two
[26:31] and a half percent,
[26:32] that would save some
[26:33] money that could be
[26:34] kept in
[26:35] cash until
[26:36] next year. But
[26:41] I don't think the change in
[26:43] the fee next
[26:44] year will be as
[26:45] drastic as it was from
[26:46] last year before
[26:47] this, when we first
[26:48] started implementing
[26:49] the deduction. So I
[26:52] agree with the
[26:53] general fund budget. Uh,
[26:55] we'll have
[26:55] debt service
[26:56] , which will be collected from
[26:57] property taxes, but
[26:58] that's completely separate
[26:59] from the rest of your
[27:00] collection. The MVH Foundation, uh,
[27:03] receives a
[27:05] gasoline tax. Uh, you
[27:07] remember we had
[27:08] some conversation about the
[27:10] governor, uh,
[27:11] suspending it for us
[27:12] as consumers, but
[27:13] still using the
[27:15] state's remaining cash to then
[27:16] rebuild the local
[27:18] units. We expect
[27:19] this to continue, uh
[27:20] , even with his new
[27:22] declaration of a new state of emergency
[27:24] . Uh, overall, the
[27:28] MVH fund's revenues are expected
[27:29] to be just
[27:31] under 550,000, and we'll
[27:32] compare that to the
[27:33] MVH fund's budget
[27:34] when we
[27:35] exchange our
[27:37] worksheets in a moment.
[27:41] I have a
[27:42] revenue forecast for the parks, and
[27:43] we'll get to
[27:44] that as well when we move
[27:45] to our new sheet. I
[27:47] got a little ahead of myself,
[27:48] but overall, with
[27:52] some
[27:53] adjustments to
[27:54] planning and
[27:54] building with the
[27:56] construction fund, I think
[27:58] I'm in pretty good
[27:59] shape with this first sheet.
[28:07] Yes, it's in these, and we
[28:08] did it. Yes. Hmm. Yes,
[28:11] instead of five, we
[28:13] made 10. Instead of 5,000,
[28:15] we made 10,000 for the
[28:16] fire. Yes. Yes.
[28:18] Last year it was
[28:20] around 4,800, so.
[28:22] Based on the number of
[28:23] volunteers. Yes, we
[28:27] do. Okay, so
[28:30] let's move on to the
[28:31] next package,
[28:32] which starts with the
[28:34] riverboat
[28:35] at the top. The only change
[28:38] is the lobbyist, and then
[28:40] our planned
[28:41] capital increases
[28:43] from 16,500 to 30,000. Um,
[28:48] rainy day... Um,
[28:49] unallocated funds
[28:51] ... we'll incur another
[28:52] expense in this fund,
[28:53] but... uh, we'll just
[28:58] make an additional
[28:59] appropriation when those
[29:00] expenses occur.
[29:05] And this is under an agreement with
[29:06] Michigan City. So, uh,
[29:09] luckily we have
[29:10] enough to
[29:11] pay. We...That
[29:13] was...Uh, thank you. Yes.
[29:17] Um, okay. And then
[29:20] our GO bonds
[29:22] expire after
[29:23] this year. We'll
[29:25] make another
[29:26] payment, uh, in December.
[29:29] And then, when right under
[29:31] that is the
[29:31] debt service
[29:32] for the
[29:33] public safety building
[29:34] ...the levy will start to
[29:35] cover it. And Tristo,
[29:38] correct me if I'm
[29:39] wrong or you
[29:40] want to add something,
[29:41] but you'll see that we've
[29:43] zeroed out the
[29:44] GO bond fund, the principal
[29:45] amount of the debt, and the
[29:46] interest. And then we're
[29:48] actually going to
[29:50] rename...I
[29:51] think you named it
[29:52] here, but I
[29:53] need to create
[29:54] lines in Cassella...uh,
[29:55] for this lease
[29:57] bond. I think
[29:59] Tristo, we said
[30:00] it's not really
[30:01] principal and
[30:02] interest? This is
[30:04] rental debt service. It's just a
[30:06] rental payment. Yes.
[30:07] So, that's right.
[30:11] Construction
[30:12] corporation, yes.
[30:13] Yes, so I'll update
[30:17] those lines, but you'll
[30:18] see that 262 is the
[30:20] amount according to the
[30:21] debt schedule for
[30:23] 2027.
[30:25] So, initially, until
[30:26] the bond was
[30:27] repaid, we
[30:28] only paid
[30:29] interest for 2027. We
[30:31] start playing "
[30:32] pay it forward."
[30:33] Yes. The time has come. Okay
[30:38] . Right. It is what it is
[30:41] . Yes.
[30:43] Hmm. It's
[30:45] just...
[30:45] No, it's rent.
[30:47] So, this is the principal amount plus
[30:48] interest plus a
[30:50] small fee.
[30:53] Good. And then we
[30:55] move to the
[30:56] community center.
[30:58] And the only big one...Well,
[31:01] we had to
[31:02] increase our
[31:03] gas and
[31:04] electricity costs.
[31:05] Unfortunately, this is what eats up
[31:06] half of those funds,
[31:07] uh, any income
[31:08] they bring in.
[31:14] Uh, you'll see this
[31:14] very large number –
[31:15] almost 49,000. And the
[31:16] community center
[31:17] has taken great steps
[31:18] to try to
[31:19] control this
[31:20] number. Uh, which, to be honest
[31:21] , always goes on
[31:23] . Uh, but the tenants
[31:25] also tried
[31:26] to help. And we
[31:28] increased the
[31:29] rent, I think, by 5%
[31:31] at the beginning of 2026. And
[31:34] Mark could
[31:35] let us know if
[31:36] they plan to
[31:37] increase it again, this
[31:39] year, as you know,
[31:40] our costs
[31:41] continue to increase
[31:42] . And then the same
[31:46] expenses that always are,
[31:48] with one change: we
[31:49] will pay for
[31:50] building repairs. This 6000, the
[31:52] last line on this
[31:54] page, will be
[31:56] paid, it seems, from
[31:57] C or CCD. Again,
[32:00] because this fund
[32:01] simply doesn't generate
[32:02] enough revenue. And
[32:05] these are truly
[32:08] capital items
[32:09] for the community
[32:10] center. And in the
[32:11] capital plan
[32:12] this year, they are
[32:13] allowed to spend
[32:15] up to 100,000. I think we
[32:16] can look at
[32:17] our balances for
[32:18] next year and
[32:19] see if
[32:21] we can keep that at
[32:22] 100 for next
[32:23] year or if we need to
[32:24] reduce it a little bit.
[32:25] Depending on
[32:26] legislation and
[32:27] starting in 2029,
[32:28] it will likely
[32:29] have to be reduced.
[32:31] You know, we're going to have to
[32:33] restrict
[32:34] some of our spending a little more strictly,
[32:35] if that's the case. Therefore.
[32:37] You're still
[32:38] dealing with the H cases
[32:39] that you...
[32:39] Yeah, they're going to
[32:40] do...I think
[32:41] heat pumps one
[32:42] or two of them
[32:42] are being installed this
[32:43] week. So, that's
[32:44] about...I think
[32:45] they cost
[32:46] about 20,000 each. Um,
[32:49] I mean, it's going to be...I
[32:50] think they've already
[32:51] spent about 20
[32:52] this year, so...
[32:53] They usually
[32:54] install a lot
[32:56] less, and they've
[32:56] done some
[32:57] really good
[32:58] projects, like the
[33:00] walkway up there and...these
[33:01] planters. They did
[33:05] some roof work,
[33:06] painting. They
[33:07] got...We
[33:08] got the building
[33:09] commission from that
[33:10] room, which is three, and the
[33:11] actual tenant,
[33:12] so they renovated that
[33:14] room. Um, Sue
[33:17] Wissing and her friend
[33:18] regularly
[33:19] rent out another room at the sale, and
[33:21] she's a great
[33:21] tenant...um, so it's
[33:23] good there.
[33:25] It will be expensive, right
[33:26] ? Because I
[33:28] talk and talk.
[33:31] Speaking of
[33:32] technical stuff...
[33:34] Yes, they do
[33:35] track. This is a great
[33:37] team of volunteers.
[33:39] Um, what do they
[33:41] call themselves? Not a committee
[33:43] . This...Yeah, I can't
[33:46] remember. Anita would
[33:47] know if she were here,
[33:49] but they do a very
[33:50] good job. So, this is a
[33:52] community center.
[33:58] Next is LRS, and the same with
[33:59] salt, and then the
[34:01] construction and
[34:02] repair line. And then we
[34:07] move on to MVH.
[34:08] Let me mention a little bit
[34:09] about salt.
[34:11] So, Mark seems to
[34:12] have already mentioned to the council the
[34:13] exclusion of La
[34:15] Porte County from the statewide
[34:17] salt supply contract negotiations
[34:18] . He is
[34:20] working diligently to
[34:22] try to achieve
[34:23] some economies of
[34:24] scale with other
[34:25] La Porte communities
[34:26] that are also
[34:26] in the
[34:27] same position. We
[34:28] expect that costs will
[34:30] likely increase.
[34:33] Um, we're hesitant
[34:34] to allocate too
[34:35] much from LRS because
[34:37] that revenue is a very
[34:38] static amount. That's a
[34:41] good projection, but the
[34:43] state projects
[34:44] it will
[34:45] be
[34:47] $30,016 next year. Um, so you
[34:48] can see that we've
[34:49] budgeted 26,000. There
[34:51] 's also some cash in the fund
[34:52] if we
[34:53] need it, but the point is that
[34:55] there's a little bit of
[34:56] leeway in that fund that we
[34:58] intentionally leave
[34:59] as a backup
[35:00] in case of an
[35:01] emergency. When Mike
[35:04] goes to MVH in a minute
[35:05] , you'll see that the
[35:06] salt amount in this
[35:07] budget has been increased by
[35:09] 15,000 to offset
[35:10] what we believe
[35:11] is a major portion of the
[35:13] increase in our
[35:14] costs. Yes. Yes.
[35:23] This was written about yesterday in the Trib.
[35:36] Yes. And he was also
[35:38] looking at other
[35:39] alternatives, with
[35:40] beet juice and, you
[35:41] know, different things
[35:42] about how to combine
[35:44] and try to be
[35:45] prepared for the fact that you
[35:46] never know what's
[35:47] going to be the winner, so
[35:49] ...
[35:53] Okay, I think they were
[36:00] waiting for more letters on
[36:02] that, but it's
[36:03] ongoing. Yes, there is progress
[36:06] . I think some
[36:08] government...Yes, but...
[36:12] Yes, that's right. We
[36:16] made a payment to
[36:17] secure
[36:18] the contractor, I believe.
[36:21] Aha. And then, I think,
[36:23] it's just waiting for
[36:24] some requirements from the
[36:25] state for
[36:26] Mike's budget.
[36:27] Let them
[36:31] check
[36:32] the sorting or
[36:33] something.
[36:33] Yes. Yeah, so I think it's
[36:37] something with the concrete.
[36:42] Okay, so at MVH, as we
[36:43] go, you'll see
[36:44] all the salaries
[36:46] on top and the benefits. Um,
[36:51] actually group
[36:52] insurance here is
[36:53] less than I, I made
[36:54] it a little more accurate
[36:55] than our actual
[36:57] costs here. And then I'll
[37:02] just move on to the
[37:03] next line.
[37:04] You see,
[37:06] workers are also
[37:07] paid from the
[37:08] garbage fund based on a
[37:09] percentage of the work
[37:10] they do in
[37:11] the process, uh,
[37:12] too. So the values
[37:15] you see here
[37:16] are not their entire
[37:17] salary. That's most of it
[37:18] , 90%, but
[37:21] thank you. Um, you'll see
[37:25] that the salt line
[37:26] that we just talked about
[37:27] is just
[37:28] above that yellow
[37:29] highlighted
[37:31] Valparaiso MS4 district, right
[37:32] above it–this
[37:33] salt line with magnification.
[37:36] And then we also
[37:38] increased the street
[37:39] lighting by 6,000. And that's
[37:41] for NIPSCO. You know, we
[37:44] pay our
[37:45] street
[37:46] lighting bills every month. And this, like the
[37:49] rest of gas and
[37:50] electricity,
[37:51] continues to grow.
[37:58] Mmm. I bet
[38:02] Indiana Michigan Power
[38:03] does that. They are lowering
[38:05] their rates across the
[38:07] region. No, Indiana Michigan
[38:09] Northeast Indiana is lowering its
[38:11] rates. How much did I
[38:13] see? By 5% or something
[38:15] like that? By 6%? Whatever it
[38:17] is. Since they have
[38:20] increased
[38:20] production, why
[38:22] not extend this to
[38:23] their customers? That
[38:24] makes sense, doesn't it?
[38:25] Really? Really?
[38:35] Your
[38:36] cable
[38:37] TV bill. Yes,
[38:37] if you don't have
[38:39] cable for
[38:40] 2 days, you can
[38:41] get a credit.
[38:41] Mmm.
[38:44] Good. So, um, yeah, with
[38:49] a few of
[38:50] those
[38:51] insurance cuts and the
[38:52] increased
[38:53] salt costs, that fund is 10,000
[38:55] more than last
[38:56] year, which for the
[38:57] salt circumstances isn't as bad
[39:03] as it could be, I
[39:04] guess. The
[39:05] expected income
[39:07] would be
[39:08] about 545. Um,
[39:09] the bulk of
[39:10] that is your
[39:12] property tax.
[39:15] Miscellaneous receipts
[39:17] from the state are expected
[39:17] to be 50. This is a
[39:19] combination of 50,000
[39:21] combining MVH and
[39:22] limited spending. Uh,
[39:23] you see the budget, the
[39:24] dark green color is
[39:26] also the same. We have
[39:27] pooled 25,000 for
[39:28] limited MVHs that are
[39:30] reserved for
[39:31] your
[39:32] paving projects. This way,
[39:35] your income will be
[39:36] online along with your
[39:37] expenses, which is great.
[39:41] Uh, this will allow for the
[39:42] remaining cash to be
[39:43] available for
[39:44] any urgent
[39:45] capital projects
[39:46] that arise, as well as
[39:47] for
[39:48] capital plan revisions.
[39:56] Good. Then we have a
[39:58] continuation, uh,
[39:59] just, you know, we
[40:00] have the same budget in
[40:01] case the police
[40:03] want to spend
[40:04] from there. And then we
[40:06] move on to the
[40:07] park board fund. And, uh,
[40:12] Paul Wolzak sent
[40:13] me some
[40:14] information. Their
[40:18] budget, uh, again
[40:19] , I reduced their insurance a little bit
[40:21] based on
[40:23] what our actual
[40:24] expenses are for that fund. And
[40:27] then, let's say,
[40:28] if they get
[40:29] new tennis courts,
[40:30] maybe our spending
[40:32] on that fund will
[40:33] go up a little bit again. So
[40:34] maybe I'll
[40:35] rethink that
[40:36] insurance line and get
[40:37] some of
[40:38] that budget back, now that
[40:39] I think about it.
[40:41] Um, otherwise,
[40:43] it's pretty much the same,
[40:44] pretty consistently. So
[40:48] , 228 last year, 224
[40:50] this year. And then, I
[40:53] think, Tristo, what you
[40:55] were saying is, do you know what
[40:56] their expected
[40:57] revenue from the parks is?
[40:59] So, we show their
[41:00] miscellaneous income
[41:01] at
[41:02] 25, which is really
[41:03] just about
[41:04] paying for their
[41:04] summer
[41:05] camp program. This year
[41:06] they're a little less than
[41:07] that, but, you know,
[41:09] there's been some discussion
[41:10] about increasing those
[41:11] fees, so I'm
[41:12] sure 25 is a
[41:13] decent estimate for
[41:15] you. Uh, the bulk of the
[41:17] revenue is
[41:18] property tax,
[41:20] which should be
[41:21] about 215 before the
[41:24] circuit breaker, which is
[41:25] about 240,000.
[41:26] You see, that's a little higher
[41:28] than, uh, the actual
[41:29] budget, but again
[41:31] , that 240,000 is before the circuit
[41:34] breaker. Therefore,
[41:36] part of these revenues
[41:37] will be under-received.
[41:38] Therefore, I think the
[41:39] budget should be
[41:40] pretty close to the
[41:41] level. Um,
[41:43] balanced, as
[41:44] opposed to just
[41:45] funded.
[41:47] is
[41:48] if you had to
[41:49] dip into your
[41:50] own funds, but
[41:51] balanced is
[41:52] because
[41:53] one year's income and expenses
[41:54] match. And,
[41:55] following the same
[41:57] trend with everything
[41:58] else, I think that, um, the
[41:59] parks fund should also
[42:01] be balanced.
[42:03] You mentioned that they
[42:04] have $80,000 in the
[42:06] improvement expense line,
[42:07] which is pretty standard.
[42:08] So $80,000 of that
[42:11] property tax revenue that they
[42:12] receive
[42:13] is allocated in
[42:13] their budget every year for
[42:15] park improvements.
[42:18] If there are additional
[42:19] expenses they
[42:20] want to make beyond
[42:21] that, then your capital plan will come into play
[42:23] . And
[42:25] then the board will decide
[42:26] if there is other money from
[42:27] other funds to
[42:28] help
[42:29] contribute to their
[42:30] projects.
[42:50] Um, that's not true, they did
[42:51] n't talk about it anymore.
[42:54] Yes. I think the only thing
[42:58] that is being
[42:59] discussed again is
[43:00] their balance sheet and
[43:01] how much of it they
[43:02] would like to use
[43:04] for a big project.
[43:07] So, okay. Next we
[43:12] move on to the
[43:14] CCD fund. And there is a capital
[43:18] cost of
[43:19] $150 and paving.
[43:25] So, if our
[43:26] CCMG grant application
[43:27] is successful, we will
[43:28] use a significant
[43:30] portion of this
[43:31] paving from this fund
[43:32] , as well as seeding and MBH
[43:34] on the first phase of
[43:35] Lakeshore Drive. So if we do
[43:40] n't succeed,
[43:41] then, you know, we'll probably
[43:42] save a lot of
[43:43] this for when
[43:45] we do succeed,
[43:46] but hopefully we'll
[43:47] get it and we
[43:48] can start the
[43:49] first phase. I believe
[43:50] they apply
[43:51] in September,
[43:52] early September. Well,
[43:54] it's now, so...Yes,
[43:55] this week.
[43:58] Good. Good. So, I
[44:04] can't say that
[44:05] this particular fund
[44:06] has a balanced
[44:07] budget. I can
[44:10] say that this is a
[44:11] funded budget.
[44:16] And let me
[44:17] just take a
[44:18] recent
[44:18] financial statement to
[44:20] tell you what
[44:20] your funds were at the
[44:21] end of July. Um, you
[44:27] may remember,
[44:28] we discussed, I'm
[44:29] pretty sure,
[44:30] last month, that the
[44:31] assessed values ​​in
[44:32] LaPorte County, a lot
[44:34] of them have gone down. And that,
[44:37] uh, the city specifically
[44:38] decreased by more than
[44:40] 5% of the assessed
[44:41] value. We've already
[44:45] discussed what this
[44:47] does, um, through
[44:48] deductions and how it
[44:49] affects your
[44:50] tax rate, which
[44:51] goes back to
[44:53] circuit breakers, but
[44:54] specifically for this
[44:55] fund, if you
[44:56] remember, the CCD fund is
[44:58] rate controlled, not fee controlled.
[44:59] So when we
[45:00] budget for
[45:01] this, we
[45:02] tell DLGF what
[45:03] rate we want, which
[45:04] is the maximum
[45:05] allowed, which is 5
[45:06] cents for every
[45:07] $100 of assessed
[45:08] value. Since
[45:15] your total
[45:16] assessed value
[45:17] for the city has decreased from
[45:19] just over 600
[45:20] million last
[45:22] year for taxes
[45:23] paid this year
[45:24] to 568 million 800,000,
[45:26] this 5% decrease means
[45:28] that your CCD revenue,
[45:29] since it is
[45:30] based on the rate,
[45:32] we multiply that 5 cents
[45:33] by the AV and you end up
[45:35] with $15,000 less.
[45:42] Which doesn't seem like a
[45:43] big amount, but
[45:44] for your budget it's
[45:45] no small thing. So, that
[45:48] means your
[45:49] expected income before the
[45:51] circuit breakers trip
[45:52] is
[45:53] only 285. Your assessed
[45:56] value 2 years ago
[45:58] was 609, so you
[45:59] lost $40 million in
[46:00] assessed
[46:02] value in 2 years. We
[46:10] heard that the
[46:12] county assessor found it
[46:17] beneficial to reduce
[46:18] the value a little
[46:19] differently than in some
[46:20] other places.
[46:27] Of course. No. So, the
[46:46] $350 budget is
[46:48] still fine with me
[46:49] , because I know Megan
[46:50] and the board
[46:51] will be watching
[46:52] you
[46:53] approve
[46:54] future capital
[46:55] plans and so on. We will be
[46:57] monitoring
[46:58] all of this very closely. The current
[47:00] amount of cash in the
[47:01] CCD fund is 216,000
[47:03] as of the end of
[47:04] July. So, you have
[47:06] some
[47:07] cash balance. We
[47:09] looked at this and
[47:10] forecasted it when
[47:11] we prepared the capital
[47:13] plan, and your
[47:14] fund projections reflect, uh
[47:15] , this process, and
[47:16] reflect
[47:17] your use of
[47:18] some of your
[47:19] cash balance on
[47:20] projects. So, this is a
[47:23] funded budget.
[47:25] We just need
[47:26] to be careful in
[47:27] the future so that
[47:28] we still have a goal of
[47:29] keeping some
[47:30] amount of cash in
[47:31] case of future
[47:32] emergencies. But again
[47:35] , be prepared
[47:36] for what you have in
[47:37] front of you.
[47:43] Good. Uh, the next
[47:47] fund is the
[47:49] CED economic development fund. And, uh,
[47:54] Tristan, I made
[47:55] a few changes here. Uh, we
[47:59] moved the help
[48:01] to the fire department. Uh
[48:04] , let's
[48:05] see. How
[48:06] best
[48:07] to explain all this? Uh, between the
[48:16] fire
[48:17] safety fund, we moved the
[48:18] fire
[48:19] aid contract to the
[48:20] fire aid fund
[48:21] because the interest on the
[48:23] public safety lease is
[48:24] now paid
[48:25] after this year.
[48:30] So, we have another
[48:31] payment in December, and
[48:32] then the tax
[48:33] levy will start
[48:34] to cover, uh, as we
[48:35] discussed earlier,
[48:37] not the geobonds, but the
[48:39] debt service lease payment
[48:40] – ​​that's what
[48:43] the lease will now be paid from. So, that gave
[48:47] us a little bit of, uh,
[48:48] room to
[48:49] make changes to those
[48:50] changes. So you
[48:52] will see that there is no 69,000 in
[48:56] rental interest. And we
[48:58] brought the
[48:59] fire service contract back
[49:00] here. Or, excuse me, are we
[49:02] on the fire
[49:03] aid fund? Yes. Um, and
[49:07] then as you
[49:08] continue, you
[49:09] see that the
[49:10] chief marshal's salary, the
[49:11] benefits, that the
[49:12] capital
[49:14] equipment line
[49:15] remains
[49:15] unchanged. And so
[49:22] the budget was 274, and now it's
[49:25] 266. So, um, even with...
[49:32] Did I jump
[49:36] one by
[49:38] accident? Yes. Oh,
[49:39] sorry. I
[49:40] jumped to
[49:41] the lighting. Yes. So,
[49:43] between the lighting and
[49:44] this fund...again
[49:49] , the rent...
[49:50] the interest on the rent
[49:52] came out of both funds.
[49:53] 69,000 is no longer
[49:55] needed.
[49:56] Good. A
[49:59] police car is due for a major
[50:01] overhaul. The police
[50:02] car is due for a major
[50:03] overhaul
[50:04] .
[50:04] one.
[50:04] Pay in cash
[50:05] instead of
[50:06] receiving interest
[50:08] on the bill.
[50:11] Thank you, Tristo. Good.
[50:16] So, this...So the budget is
[50:17] a little bit smaller again
[50:18] because we're moving the
[50:19] fire
[50:21] safety contract to
[50:22] public safety lighting.
[50:25] And then we have a line of
[50:26] police
[50:27] equipment, um, in
[50:28] this second kind of
[50:29] grouping. We
[50:33] reduced it from 20 to 10,200
[50:35] , which I don't think is the
[50:36] case with the
[50:37] tasers, but
[50:38] it's, uh, do you remember
[50:40] what it was, Tristo?
[50:42] Which one exactly?
[50:44] 10,200 in terms of
[50:44] major repairs
[50:46] . Is this...
[50:46] Body cams?
[50:49] Thank you. And then we
[50:51] move on to...We
[50:52] increased
[50:53] tree maintenance costs
[50:54] by $10,000. Hmm, and
[50:56] this is especially
[50:57] relevant given
[50:58] these storms. Therefore. And
[51:02] then we have road
[51:03] coverage at 100. And so
[51:08] that fund has decreased a little bit
[51:10] from 298 to 255. And
[51:14] then we'll move on to
[51:15] public safety lighting,
[51:17] which I've already
[51:18] touched on a little bit. So, you
[51:19] see a
[51:20] fire safety agreement, and there is
[51:21] no more
[51:21] rent. We
[51:23] have a salary and benefits.
[51:27] And then, this $
[51:28] 60 hardware line is,
[51:29] again,
[51:31] a little under
[51:32] $14,000 for that
[51:33] budget, which is great.
[51:36] Tristo, what else did you
[51:37] want to talk about? The
[51:39] projected
[51:40] income for both
[51:41] is a little over
[51:43] 300,000. But then again,
[51:44] this is near the
[51:45] end of the
[51:47] income tax period
[51:48] as it is now, uh
[51:49] , structured.
[51:51] So the fact that
[51:53] you have a
[51:54] budget underfunding is great
[51:55] to preserve some of
[51:56] those funds to
[51:57] help get you through the
[51:58] transition period to what's
[52:00] next.
[52:06] The main reason for
[52:07] this is, uh, the timing of the
[52:08] rent payment
[52:09] , now you can
[52:10] get
[52:12] property tax financing when the
[52:13] GEO bonds
[52:14] mature. Uh, it
[52:17] was all part of the
[52:18] plan, and it was
[52:19] built into the
[52:19] capital plan
[52:20] that way. It just so
[52:23] happens that the timing of
[52:24] all this
[52:25] coincides well with this
[52:29] lack of an
[52:30] adjective
[52:31] income tax.
[52:34] Good. Uh, the
[52:36] police donation fund, we just
[52:37] stick to the same
[52:38] budget. This
[52:39] fund has a good
[52:40] balance. Uh, it's really
[52:42] nice when people
[52:43] write, you know,
[52:44] make donations,
[52:45] so it's really
[52:46] appreciated. And then
[52:50] some of that will be
[52:51] spent on a
[52:52] sea boat,
[52:53] because our portion...
[52:54] Actually, I don't know
[52:55] if it's even from that
[52:56] fund. I think so.
[53:01] Um, 50 or 50, between 50 and 60,000 – that's the
[53:02] city's share, and
[53:04] all of that money has been
[53:06] raised and will
[53:07] stay there as soon as
[53:08] we allocate it
[53:10] . We have made some
[53:13] progress with FEMA. So
[53:15] Mark and I actually
[53:16] filed some
[53:17] additional...All of that
[53:19] was provided to them, but
[53:20] apparently they didn't
[53:21] get
[53:21] the message. So we
[53:24] sent an
[53:24] email
[53:26] and did another...
[53:27] what's it called? Not
[53:31] an amendment, but
[53:32] it was actually a
[53:33] request for an amendment, and
[53:35] hopefully this
[53:36] will remove the delays that
[53:37] existed. And then
[53:40] we didn't actually
[53:41] pay for them.
[53:42] Right. So will
[53:43] it happen
[53:45] this year on the 26th?
[53:47] Maybe,
[53:48] we hope. So I
[53:50] think we'll just
[53:51] do an extra one.
[53:53] When the time comes. That
[53:54] 's right, because I don't
[53:55] really know. I mean, I
[53:57] think, to your
[53:58] point, we could
[53:59] add that to the budget
[54:00] for next year.
[54:02] If it doesn't get paid for this year
[54:03] ...We've been
[54:04] waiting. So
[54:07] we hope they
[54:08] will close these gaps
[54:09] and send us a check
[54:10] for the money. And then we,
[54:13] because the seller, have the
[54:14] boats ready. Sellers
[54:15] are waiting for us to
[54:16] buy it.
[54:17] Oh, let's
[54:18] leave it at that then. This should
[54:19] happen by December.
[54:20] We hope so.
[54:22] That's another four
[54:23] months.
[54:24] Mhm. Yes.
[54:25] We hope so. Good.
[54:31] Next, we have the
[54:32] water supply fund. And
[54:35] then, as with other
[54:36] funds, you can
[54:38] see a 3%
[54:39] salary increase. Hmm.
[54:46] And I think that the clerk, well
[54:48] , the clerk's salary. And
[54:51] then you'll see
[54:52] a portion of the
[54:53] clerk-treasurer's salary that
[54:54] comes from the
[54:55] water fund. And
[54:57] then the
[54:58] clerk's salary
[54:59] is also distributed among the
[55:00] waste
[55:01] leaf fund. Uh, here are the benefits.
[55:07] Actually,
[55:08] they reduced their
[55:09] health insurance a little bit,
[55:10] to be more precise,
[55:11] again, what are the
[55:12] expenses from this fund
[55:14] . Uh, and then we have
[55:17] HSA insurance. I
[55:21] think there is, let's
[55:22] see. So, as far as
[55:24] buying water, that's the
[55:25] biggest change, and it's
[55:29] just, do you have
[55:31] that open for that
[55:32] percentage that we've
[55:33] invested?
[55:35] I'll tell you now.
[55:37] Thank you. Michigan City
[55:40] 5%
[55:42] is 5%. So, we've already
[55:44] increased it through the
[55:45] rate research
[55:46] we've done. Austin
[55:49] heard it would be an even
[55:50] bigger increase,
[55:51] but until we
[55:52] know what it
[55:53] is, Trista and I
[55:54] have discussed it, and we will
[55:56] keep it at
[55:57] 5% for this year.
[55:59] So...Yes.
[56:21] Yes. The intention is to
[56:26] raise
[56:27] the rate here once
[56:28] Michigan City
[56:29] decides what
[56:30] they're doing, which
[56:32] we've communicated, uh, to
[56:33] the public during the
[56:35] rate increase talks,
[56:36] you know, initially in...
[56:37] Yeah, we're still waiting
[56:39] . Good.
[56:48] And then, if there's anything
[56:49] else worth
[56:50] mentioning, uh, I've
[56:51] increased their software maintenance a little bit
[56:54] because
[56:55] , uh, they
[56:56] use the
[56:57] program. I think
[56:58] this should lead
[57:00] to an increase. Uh, we
[57:02] reduced their
[57:03] booster station
[57:05] because it was
[57:06] increased in 2026
[57:08] to 15,000 for an
[57:09] electrical panel upgrade. The
[57:14] electrical panel upgrade is
[57:15] actually going to be
[57:16] closer to $90,000
[57:17] , and it's been added to the
[57:19] capital
[57:20] expenditure plan, and it's, uh, a
[57:21] major project that
[57:23] will be completed in
[57:24] 2027 with
[57:25] funds from the
[57:27] capital
[57:28] improvements cash balance. So,
[57:30] since this doesn't
[57:32] necessarily have to be
[57:33] in operating
[57:34] expenses anymore, because this is a
[57:34] capital
[57:35] expense, and it's
[57:36] much more expensive
[57:37] than we originally
[57:39] budgeted a year or two
[57:40] ago. And then the cost
[57:43] of maintaining
[57:44] the meters
[57:45] increased by 5,000. And
[57:49] then again
[57:50] the debt, the principal amount of
[57:51] the bonds, will be
[57:52] repaid by
[57:53] next year. So,
[57:56] as you can see, their
[57:57] budget has decreased.
[58:01] Probably because of this
[58:02] number. Anything to add or
[58:07] any questions?
[58:13] We have a
[58:15] certain salary for storm drains,
[58:16] including mine and our
[58:17] construction department. And
[58:24] then just some
[58:25] materials and, uh,
[58:26] ex-cost lines, and
[58:27] then we have the
[58:28] capital
[58:29] estimate, which
[58:30] remains
[58:31] unchanged at
[58:32] 70,000. We're hoping that
[58:34] some of our
[58:35] stormwater balance
[58:36] is going to be
[58:37] put toward the
[58:38] paving project. And then -
[58:53] yes. The projected
[58:56] income is
[58:57] about 225 per year.
[59:01] Well, and do we want to
[59:02] discuss, um, it
[59:03] was brought up, but not
[59:04] discussed, that
[59:06] the city is considering
[59:07] increasing
[59:08] stormwater fees.
[59:13] It's currently $15 a
[59:14] month because we
[59:16] could do
[59:17] so many
[59:18] drainage projects. So we
[59:22] probably get
[59:23] calls every month from residents
[59:27] complaining about
[59:29] some
[59:30] drainage problem they
[59:31] would like the city to
[59:32] fix. So, you know,
[59:33] we're doing our best
[59:34] to address some of
[59:36] them using
[59:37] paving projects. Um,
[59:39] I think Mark
[59:40] typed out a whole
[59:41] email to the
[59:42] board, and I think I
[59:43] can put together a better
[59:44] list of our
[59:45] capital needs.
[59:49] Um, so we can
[59:50] determine if
[59:51] we need to
[59:51] increase this fee.
[59:54] So, this has already been
[59:55] brought up for consideration,
[59:57] and the needs need to be
[59:58] addressed. Good. And
[1:00:06] the last thing is garbage and
[1:00:08] leaves. So, some of
[1:00:11] the salaries from
[1:00:12] the street department, the
[1:00:13] clerk's office, the
[1:00:14] water department - all of that
[1:00:15] comes here. There are
[1:00:18] small
[1:00:20] insurance costs that
[1:00:21] come in here for
[1:00:22] healthcare. And
[1:00:27] then there are the
[1:00:28] supply costs, and
[1:00:29] the amount of waste is
[1:00:30] increasing due to
[1:00:31] the increase from Republic
[1:00:33] Services, which was
[1:00:34] part of our 3-
[1:00:35] year contract with
[1:00:36] them. That's why this, uh,
[1:00:41] amount is increasing. And
[1:00:44] this is planned. It
[1:00:45] will be, you know, a smaller
[1:00:47] increase in the
[1:00:47] third year,
[1:00:49] fortunately for the residents,
[1:00:50] but it's still an
[1:00:51] increase. I think
[1:00:54] I should probably
[1:00:55] try to
[1:00:56] contact Republic, I
[1:00:57] think we know
[1:00:58] this year, so it will be
[1:00:59] next year.
[1:01:01] Um, whether they're going to increase
[1:01:03] our bill again
[1:01:04] on the eve of '28 or
[1:01:06] not, but we increased our
[1:01:08] leaf removal by
[1:01:10] 5,000. We haven't had
[1:01:14] an increase from this
[1:01:15] supplier in many
[1:01:16] years, so, uh, we'll
[1:01:17] see if we get one
[1:01:19] or not. And
[1:01:25] then the
[1:01:25] capital investment plan
[1:01:26] is a
[1:01:27] street sweeper. I think there is
[1:01:33] another capital. I
[1:01:35] think it's F
[1:01:37] The Indiana Bond Bank? Through
[1:01:42] Indiana Bond Bank in 5
[1:01:43] years. Yes, so
[1:01:45] this payment will be made from here
[1:01:46] . Mmm.
[1:01:51] Right. Yes.
[1:01:55] Approximately 4.2. Good.
[1:02:03] Tristo, was there another
[1:02:05] capital for the
[1:02:06] street sweeper
[1:02:07] ? I was just doing it or,
[1:02:08] sorry, for the
[1:02:10] garbage fund. Is it just
[1:02:12] this? Is there
[1:02:13] a truck? And I
[1:02:16] mean, we can
[1:02:17] add it later.
[1:02:18] It depends on whether
[1:02:19] we want to include it
[1:02:21] in the budget now. But you and
[1:02:23] I can also
[1:02:24] look at it.
[1:02:25] Yes, I haven't revealed the
[1:02:26] fund's forecasts for
[1:02:27] today, but I can
[1:02:27] reveal it for you.
[1:02:28] Yes, I will review the
[1:02:29] capital budget and
[1:02:30] see if there are any
[1:02:32] other areas where we
[1:02:32] want to include a
[1:02:33] capital budget
[1:02:34] in the budget.
[1:02:35] And I also want to double
[1:02:36] -check with you on the
[1:02:37] expected returns.
[1:02:39] I have 390 listed, but I'm
[1:02:40] not sure that
[1:02:41] reflects the current
[1:02:43] due rate. So,
[1:02:46] 394. What are the revenues?
[1:02:50] For the garbage fund. 390,000.
[1:02:54] Rate, hmm.
[1:02:55] So, I want to double
[1:02:56] -check the
[1:02:57] current rate with you and
[1:02:58] make sure it's a
[1:02:59] good forecast.
[1:02:59] Good. Good.
[1:03:07] Right. So, next,
[1:03:10] I will work to ensure that
[1:03:11] parts of our
[1:03:12] budget reach
[1:03:13] Gateway after the
[1:03:15] council meeting. And then the council has to
[1:03:19] agree on the overall
[1:03:20] increase. Any
[1:03:23] other comments?
[1:03:26] Question? Thank you for
[1:03:29] participating. I think we
[1:03:31] will close the meeting at
[1:03:33] 11:10 then. Thank you.