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WINONA LAKE – Winona Lake Redevelopment Commission approved its spending plan for 2026 Wednesday.
The total amount of the 2026 spending plan is $359,634.04.
Town Manager Pam Howard said the two funds associated with the spending plan are the two funds for the Lake City Bank Water Infrastructure tax increment finance (TIF) district and the Lake City Bank Stonehenge Golf TIF district.
Howard said Clerk-Treasurer Heather James hasn’t told her as of Wednesday how much the town will receive from the two TIF districts, but they knew how much they needed to spend in 2026 as far as debt payments. Last year, Howard said about $302,000 was brought in to the two TIFs.
For the 2026 spending plan, the debt payments for the Lake City Bank Water Infrastructure TIF district is $141,015 and the debt payments for the Lake City Bank Stonehenge Golf TIF district is $213,619.04 for the year.
The commission also talked about whether to keep the spending plan for professional services at $4,000 or to bump it up to $5,000.
Howard said the commission could decide either way because the commission doesn’t use London Witte & Co. LLP for many legal services.
Commission member Bruce Shaffner said just because they raise the amount for professional services doesn’t necessarily mean the commission has to spend the full amount, “so if it’s better to raise (the amount), then I suggest we raise it.”
Shaffner also asked for Howard’s recommendation of what she thought the commission should do. She said she thought the commission should raise the amount, that way, if the commission needs the $5,000, they could use it.
The commission approved raising the amount for professional services from $4,000 to $5,000 for 2026.
The spending plan includes categories for grants and contributions, payments related to military bases, payments related to eligible efficiency programs, expenditures from property tax levy and expenditures related to capital and operating expenses for police or fire services, among other categories, all of which the commission will not spend any money on in 2026.
