Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
WINONA LAKE – Winona Lake Town Council approved Tuesday moving forward to apply for extra tax levy money.
Clerk-Treasurer Heather James said Baker Tilly contacted her the week their 2026 budget was due to inform her the town was eligible for an additional $150,046 in levies.
James said she has been working with Town Manager Pam Howard and a representative from Baker Tilly on an application to receive the levy money from the state. She requested the council approve a motion to move forward with the application.
There is no guarantee the town will get the extra levy money and there is a 13-page application that has to be submitted. Baker Tilly has been working on the first half, and James and Howard have been working on the narrative aspect of the application. James said she will work with Baker Tilly to get the application submitted.
James said she and Howard have been talking about using the levy money on upgrading the bathrooms at Limitless Park as the town has been in the process of getting that project done for a while.
In other business, the council:
• Adopted its 2026 budget. The proposed budget totals $5,572,490.
The casino/riverboat fund is $125,000. The rainy day fund is $100,000. The general fund is $1,747,960. The local road and street fund is $200,000. The motor vehicle highway fund is $787,680. The park fund is $266,080. The cumulative capital improvements fund is $50,000. The cumulative capital development fund is $198,000. The economic development income tax fund is $733,225. The home-rule opioid restricted fund is $98,980. The TIF Winona Lake fund is $141,015. The TIF residential fund is $213,700. The home-rule fund - law enforcement operations fund is $10,000. The home-rule fund - school resource officer fund is $100,850. The Community Crossing Match Grant fund is $800,000.
• Heard the Farmers Market at Winona will be every Saturday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. through Nov. 1.
• Approved posting the position of building commissioner. Gene Seiman’s last day as building commissioner was Oct. 1. The position will be part-time for now.
• Approved the hiring of Brittany Denny as rink manager for the Miller Sunset Pavilion at $25 per hour; Easton Hummitch, ice technician, $20 per hour; Genesis Malin, ice technician, $20 per hour; Bennet Wiebe, Isabella Shepherd and Cooper Hummitch, rink attendants, $14 per hour; Sophia Hostetler and Neila Smith, rink attendants, $12 per hour.
