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The county is committing $250,000 from its Dreyfus tax increment financing (TIF) toward the town of Claypool’s sewer project.
At Tuesday morning’s Kosciusko County Commissioners meeting, county attorney Ed Ormsby presented an interlocal agreement concerning sewer project funding between the county and the town.
“This is a $250,000 use of the Dreyfus TIF money to be used for the town of Claypool’s sewer project,” he said before reading the applicable portions of the resolution and the interlocal agreement therein.
On July 29, 2025, the town issued its taxable sewage works revenue bonds series 2025 (bonds) and taxable sewage works bond anticipation notes (BANs) series 2025 in the aggregate principal amounts of $2.06 million and $1.6 million, respectively, to finance collection system improvements, wastewater treatment plant and lift station improvements and storm sewer improvements to its sewage works system, he said.
The bonds and BANs were purchased by the Indiana Finance Authority through one or more of its loan programs.
Ormsby said the county has been advised the forecasted amount of TIF revenues available to pay debt service on the bonds is less than originally anticipated and that the town needs financial assistance to meet its obligations to the IFA program, with respect to the payment of the bonds.
The project not only benefits the town, but also benefits the county and the county desires to provide financial support to the town pursuant to the agreement to enable the town to meet its requirements with the IFA program, he said.
The project was reviewed by the county’s Redevelopment Commission on Sept. 11, 2025, and the project was found to be beneficial to the Dreyfus TIF Allocation Area and an appropriate use of county TIF money collected on the Dreyfus TIF, Ormsby said.
“Therefore, the county hereby commits to provide $250,000 of funds to the town from existing funds captured from the county Dreyfus TIF,” Ormsby said.
The county’s contribution to the town will be transferred within 30 days of the effective date of the interlocal agreement, he concluded.
Commissioner Sue Ann Mitchell made the motion to approve the $250,000, using TIF dollars, “in order to help Claypool take care of their expenditures, based on the Redevelopment’s guidance that that’s how they want the money used for.”
Her motion was approved 2-0, with Commissioner Cary Groninger abstaining.
Later in the meeting, Ormsby and Kosciusko County Highway Department Superintendent Steve Moriarty opened bids for possible Community Crossings Matching Grant dollars from the Indiana Department of Transportation. The bids were taken under advisement until further notice when the county finds out if it will receive the grant dollars or not.
The grant dollars would be used for Armstrong Road, from the bridge in Oswego to Old 15, and Packerton Road, from CR 400S into Sarah Drive.
The bid from Brooks Construction for both roads was $1,606,528.23, while the bid from Phend & Brown was $1,627,647.25.
At the beginning of the commissioners meeting, they had a public hearing to re-establish the cumulative funds tax rates.
County Auditor’s Office Chief Deputy Becky Dye explained, “Every year we have to re-establish the cumulative funds, and we usually do the CCD, cumulative capital development, fund and the cumulative bridge fund but we never change the rate on the CCD so we don’t have to re-establish that one.”
She said they’re going to re-establish the bridge fund at a rate of 10 cents per $100 of assessed value. At budget time, “we shift it around to make it work, but we have to re-establish this so we’ll be able to collect all the taxes that we can for the bridge fund,” Dye stated.
No members of the public spoke during the hearing for the re-establishment of the fund. The county commissioners unanimously approved the fund’s re-establishment.
In other business, the commissioners approved:
• A mowing contract with Turf Master, as recommended by County Administrator Marsha McSherry. She said Turf Master has done the mowing for the county the last several years and there’s not been an increase in the “per-mowing of each parcel that they do mow.” There was no total dollar amount as it will depend how much mowing Turf Master does throughout the year.
• A contract with Anderson Greenhouse and Florist for the planters, planting and the cleanup of the flower beds around the courthouse and Justice Building, as presented by McSherry. The amount is $15,925, and McSherry said the amount has not been increased for a number of years. This year, in recognition of America’s 250th birthday celebration, the flowers will be red, white and blue.
• For Commissioner Bob Conley to sign a commitment to participate agreement with the District 2 Healthcare Coalition, as requested by Kosciusko Emergency Management Agency Director Kip Shuter.
“This is important for my role and my office to actively participate in the Healthcare Coalition because the Healthcare Coalition is critical to ensuring coordinate whole-community approach to disaster preparedness, response and recovery,” Shuter stated.
The coalition integrates hospitals, public health, EMS and Emergency Management into a unified planning and operational framework, which strengthens resource sharing, improves communication inoperability and enhances surge capacity during large-scale incidents, he explained.
“Engagement also provides access to federal preparedness funding, specialized training and regional planning initiatives that the county would not be able to sustain independently,” Shuter said. “Ultimately, involvement ensures Kosciusko County remains aligned with state and federal preparedness standards while improving its ability to protect lives, stabilize incidents and support rapid recovery across the healthcare and public safety sector.”
• The Area Plan Commission’s unanimous recommendation to vacate a 16-foot alley just off Eli Lilly Road, petitioned by Pier 778 LLC, as presented by Area Plan Director Matt Sandy. It’s in Lake View Park, which runs parallel to Eli Lilly Road. There were no remonstrators.
The commissioners also heard from:
• Mark Gourley, Indiana Department of Veterans Affairs district service officer, on the veteran service officer accreditation standards.
• Warsaw Community Public Library Director Heather Barron on the 2025 statistics and the upcoming exhibit on “Americans and the Holocaust” that will be at the library. It was a similar presentation to the one she gave March 12 to the county council.
The exhibit will be at the library June 20 through July 24. WCPL is one of 50 libraries across the United States to get the exhibit.
Holocaust survivor Irene Miller will speak at 6 p.m. June 23 at the Warsaw Community High School Performing Arts Center. A number of other presentations and events are scheduled in conjunction with the exhibit.
The next commissioners meeting is at 9 a.m. April 7.
