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On the first five-hour day Monday of the two days of budget hearings for county departments, the Kosciusko County Council cut $1 million from the Commissioners’ $6 million Economic Development Income Tax (EDIT) fund for infrastructure and major improvements.
County Administrator Marsha McCreary said the $6 million was the EDIT Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) that the council had copies of.
“Those are items that have been approved by the commissioners and they’re appropriating dollars to do those projects,” she said.
Commissioner Cary Groninger said, “On that EDIT (CIP) $6 million, it is a little reduction from what it was last year of a million dollars. We’re going to be updating this (CIP) soon. I know that some of the things on that list, probably, aren’t going to happen or they’re going to be changed. And some of the things that aren’t on there - the roof on the Justice Building ... so we’re waiting on what those costs will be.”
While some of the projects will change, “there’s several things out at the Slate (Auto) area we just voted for at the commissioners, the last meeting, some intersection improvements that need to happen on Old Road 30,” Cary said, as well as some other projects.
“One of the other things that we have going on is that, soon, we’ll publicly announce ... commissioners are planning to do, from our joint meeting we had a while back, that we consider a State of the County address, and along with that, there’s going to be an opportunity for some of the public to give some input on what projects they’d like to see us investing in,” Cary continued.
The details are a work in progress, with the details to come out in the next week or so. As well as the State of the County address, there will be an opportunity for county departments to showcase what services they provide and how they are provided to the community.
The county continues to build its EDIT fund and not spend those dollars as there’s investments the county continues to make on its existing facilities, while there’s also some economic development opportunities “here that we want to make sure we have those dollars appropriated and be able to invest in wisely.”
Councilman Dave Wolkins asked where the EDIT dollars come from. Cary said it’s a local income tax (LIT), not a property tax.
“So, if you live in Kosciusko County, you pay a 1% local income tax, and that’s where those dollars come from,” Cary said. “We’re collecting approximately a little over $6 million a year.”
He said they’re not even spending what they’ve already saved, they’re only spending what they receive.
McSherry said the county currently has a balance of about $17.5 million.
After discussion on some other items, Councilman Will Stockdale brought back the infrastructures and major improvements, saying $7 million was budgeted for 2026 and the county hasn’t spent through it.
“I know like as projects come up, that’s a dollar holder for what we’re doing. Our Capital Improvement Plan is 2025, 2026, 2027. Are you still planning on strictly following that, or are there other projects you’re going to get accomplished next year? Like what is the goal for the $6 million for 2027?” Stockdale asked.
Cary, noting everything has not been voted on by the three county commissioners, said there’s the roof on the Justice Building, which they hope to get a contract in play before the end of the year so money can be encumbered from this year to next. Without going into too much detail, he said they expect there will be additional expenses to that.
Along with the roof, there’s Old Road 30 work, economic development in the area of Slate Auto, bridge work and the county still hasn’t addressed its parking situation in downtown Warsaw, whether that’s a parking garage or something else, he said.
“The other thing, we did have, we’re possibly looking at some space in the Justice Building. It’s a program space for the sheriff on how he can increase some of the things he’s providing to his inmates that helps ... reduce the recidivism rate,” Cary said.
The county wants to get some additional duplicity in its 911 Center in case something would happen.
“There’s a bunch of things we kind of have in play, as well as I’m really hopeful that as we walk through this meeting that I’m talking about, coming up here hopefully in October, is there some other investments that need to happen, as well as some of the things that are in there. Continue to fund the airport as they’re finishing their runway project next year, as well as we have some stuff like this year where we’re spending some of those dollars on redoing the Chinworth Bridge, the historic piece of our county that a lot of people drive by, to make sure it’s going to be here for the next generation of our county,” Cary said.
He said they’re still working through those things, but at the $6 million level, the county is still not dipping into what they’ve saved.
Stockdale said he saw two options there: Find good projects to spend money on, or stop collecting so much.
Cary said there’s some other investments in the county’s small communities that could get them across the finish line.
“I think if we want our county to continue to prosper, ‘growth’ sometimes people think is a bad word, but that’s what drives the ship. If you’re not growing a little bit, we all know our expenses and you guys are going through the budget, everything is going up. If we don’t expand our assessed value or the number of people paying into the pool, the only thing left is rates have to go up,” Cary said. “And I think we all have been so blessed to have such low rates in our county. The one way we can continue to have that is see some growth in our taxes.”
Councilwoman Rachael Rhoades agreed with that, but said she’d like to see the $6 million come down to $4 million.
Stockdale didn’t want to approve $6 million and then the county council not have any oversight of the projects.
Councilman Joe Irwin said he was excited about the State of the County. He said he wanted to hear from the taxpayers and see what they wanted. He hated to approve funds before that happened.
Councilwoman Kimberly Cates noted that some of the projects by the county over the past few years were able to be completed because the county received American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds and other dollars. She said the county’s been fortunate that it’s been able to save the EDIT money for projects.
Stockdale made a motion to cut the $6 million down to $5 million, and any projects over $1 million have to go before the county council for their approval. The motion passed.
If more money is requested, the commissioners can ask for an additional appropriation from the council.
