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Warsaw Common Council began hearing the proposed 2027 budget presentations Monday evening from city departments.
After Community and Economic Development Director Jeremy Skinner presented his seven budget proposals, which were the same as he presented to the Redevelopment Commission in July, Council President Jack Wilhite asked him how what they know about Senate Bill 1 (SB 1) so far affected his budgeting process, if at all.
“I think in the back of my mind, yes. I’ve had a lot of conversations with the mayor about this and probably some council members as well,” Skinner replied. “I think it does absolutely impact how we think about what next year and the year after looks like.
“At the same time, I’ve been very forward with this. I don’t think the solution to the shortfall in SB 1 is to make cuts immediately because that is a short-term solution, which has long-term impacts.”
He said there may be some communities whose initial reaction is to cut everything and not do anything for two years.
“Not doing anything for two years has its own impact, right? So if we sit back and don’t do anything, sit back and play defense and hold, it goes our way and for three years, two years, whatever, you’ve accomplished nothing, you haven’t increased your tax base, you’ve not grown jobs, you’ve not done anything. But hope that something good happens. That, in my opinion, is not the best way to approach any issue we face,” Skinner said.
While they need to be understanding of what the impact is going forward, he said they can’t stop doing the things that have made the city successful today and moving forward.
“Because if we do that, then we’re not going to be successful tomorrow. We can’t (let) other people’s bad policies impact the decisions that we make. We’ve got to try to change their policies,” Skinner said.
Going forward, he said they need to work hard with people like state Rep. Craig Snow to make it better and find a solution.
“Now that set aside does not change the fact that in a couple years we have a shortfall, and, in my opinion, that shortfall can not be made up by not doing things. The only way to fix that shortfall is to start making large-scale cuts, right? Which impacts everybody. We make cuts to services, we make cuts to employees. There’s no solution to a $3 million gap, other than cuts,” he continued.
They can save half a million this year, the next year and the following year, but Skinner said that only buys them three years or maybe two.
“That is not a long-term solution either. Making cuts today is not a long-term solution because, at the end of the day, the $3 million gap does not fill itself unless you generate $3 million more,” he said. “Cutting money out of this year’s budget and next year’s budget ... you’re still two years away, you’re still going to have a huge gap. You might push it off two years, but you’re still not doing anything to fill the gap. You’re not creating new revenue, you’re not creating new jobs.”
For his budgets, he said TIF (tax increment financing) districts create future revenue and everybody gets a piece of the pie.
“The Northern TIF is getting really close to having a huge impact on all of Warsaw, the county, the school and all that. Because all of a sudden, you’re going to be holding up $250 million in revenue, taxes, that otherwise wasn’t there. So that’s $250 million of assessed value that’s thrown in. Can you imagine what the impact of that is?” Skinner said.
He said they spent 20 years “building all these things, all these jobs, all these new business, new opportunities and that’s going to be opened up to everybody. That’s going to have an impact on the tax rate” and keep the tax rates low.
The budgets Skinner presented to the council included $700,000 for Warsaw Technology Park, which is capped out at collecting $5 million and he thinks that cap will be reached in 2027; $393,980 for Redevelopment General, which is the only redevelopment budget that is tax-rate supported; and $151,748 for Marketplace TIF.
The other three budgets Skinner presented were $833,000 for the Northern Residential TIF; $600,000 for the South Residential TIF; $6,454,808 for the Redevelopment Northern TIF; and $75,000 for the Winona Interurban TIF.
The Redevelopment Northern TIF is the largest of the city’s TIF districts and includes a number of bond payments. Of the approximate $6.5 million in the budget, $600,000 is for engineering; $5,000 is for property acquisition; and $4 million is for infrastructure projects. Some of those costs could relate to the Veterans Administration clinic project, the CR 200N and Husky Trail roundabout that is in engineering now and/or the Thompson-Thrift development that is in the process north of Kohl’s.
Parks Budgets
Warsaw Parks and Recreation Department Superintendent Larry Plummer presented three budgets.
The Parks Operating Budget is proposed at $3,439,100 for 2027, a $4,700 decrease from 2026’s. It includes two new employees - an additional administrative assistant and a maintenance employee.
“As a result of the workforce study that was done by HR (Human Resources), it was determined that adding a second admin. assistant will improve our operational efficiency,” he said.
As for the maintenence employee, he said the workforce study “identified an additional maintenance employee as the highest impact operational investment we can make, enabling us to maintain our park facilities and community events” while letting the parks department’s carpenters and electricians remain focused on preventative maintenence and specialized work rather than route daily responsibilities.
The proposed non-reverting recreation budget, which is generated from revenue from programming, was presented at $34,350, while the non-reverting capital fund was presented at $45,000. The capital fund is generated from rentals of the Fireman’s Building, Nye Youth Cabin and kayak kiosks.
Building & Planning
City Planner Justin Taylor presented two budgets.
The Building and Planning proposed budget for 2027 is $1,049,260, or a 2% increase over 2026’s budget of $1,023,035.
The other budget, for Building & Construction Related Fees Fund, is new and due to SB 1. Taylor said they had to set up a non-reverting fund.
“We typically would bring in anywhere from 35, 40 to 50-60,000 a year in permit fees, so that number can fluctuate drastically, depending on how many projects come in. So for next year, since this is a new budget, I put in a budget of $35,000 and split that up so that it could be used for, as required by the state, operation of the office,” Taylor said, noting the budget will likely evolve over the next year.
Airport
Warsaw Municipal Airport Manager Nick King presented his proposed Aviation General Fund at $2,111,300 for 2027, a 4.94% increase over 2026’s $2,011,852. The runway 9-27 project is planned to be completed next year.
His other budget, the Aviation Depreciation Fund, was proposed for 2027 at $750,000, the same as 2026.
Police
Warsaw Police Department Chief Scott Whitaker presented four budgets.
His general budget proposed for 2027 totals $8,330,600, an 8.21% increase of $631,830. However, the 2027 addition of the CARES program accounts for an increase of $248,412 (3.23% of the 8.21% increase). The proposed 2027 police budget increase would be $383,468 (4.98%) without the addition of CARES. If awarded, a sizeable grant could fund the majority of the CARES program for the possible next three years. Grants and opioid settlement funds have paid for the CARES program since its inception.
The Law Continuing Education fund is proposed at $48,600; the Police Forfeiture Fund, $17,000; and the Police Pension Fund, $291,150.
Clerk’s Office
Clerk-Treasurer Lynne Christiansen presented the last five budgets for Monday.
The clerk-treasurer’s own proposed budget for 2027 is $199,730, down 0.60% from 2026’s $199,850.
The general obligation bond for the southern fire station for 2027 totals $260,200. The Parks Bond for the new parks department building totals $342,125.
The new building for the street building isn’t completed yet, but the lease rental payment for it in 2027 is $1,075,500.
The final budget she presented was for the Cumulative Capital Improvement Fund, which is proposed at $70,000 for 2027. Christiansen said it’s used for Ride+Walk paths.
The council will hear the remaining proposed department budgets at their 6 p.m. Aug. 17 meeting at the Warsaw Police Department Training Center.
