HOPE – Initial recommendations for the 2024 budget are now in the hands of the Hope Town Council.
The largest upcoming change for the town’s 2,100 residents, which is an increase in water and sewage rates, was given final approval in June. Customers have been notified that higher rates will begin to show up on September bills.
The monthly water bill for a customer using 2,900 gallons of water a month will rise from $39.24 to $46.40, while the monthly sewer bill will go up from $21.59 a month to $34.88. After those initial rate hikes, both water and sewage bills will go up 3% each year for the next three years.
But Hope Clerk-Treasurer Diane Burton says the town is currently focused on preparing budget information for the state, so further budgetary discussions on utility rates will wait until October.
Burton and town manager Jason Eckart are still working with budget field representative Vickey Neeley of the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance to have the 2024 budget completed and published in time for the 5:30 p.m. public hearing on Sept. 19.
What is known at this time is that the council will be asked to approved the maximum tax levy of 4% for next year, Burton said. The actual adoption of the 2024 budget is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 17.
Although the clerk-treasurer is proposing a 5% increase in salaries and benefits, Burton emphasized that doesn’t mean employees will receive that raise. Her recommendation is intended to give the town council room to make appropriate decisions, she said. Final decisions regarding wage and benefits will be determined with the 2024 salary ordinance early this fall.
Burton told the five-member council that she proposing a General Fund budget of $20,551 next year – less than a 4% increase from the current level. The Rainy Day Fund, which consists of financial reserves, would rise from $222,000 to $242,000 under Burton’s proposal.
The clerk-treasurer is proposing a different way of funding compensation for some of the town’s employees. For example, she is recommending that economic development income tax (EDIT) revenue be used to pay 70% of Eckart’s salary and benefits, while the remaining 30% come from three different sources: general fund, water and sewage payments. In the past, Eckart’s entire salary and compensation has come entirely from EDIT funds.
The other proposed change concerns salaries and benefits of Hope Town Marshal Matt Tallent and his deputies. Burton is proposing that 10% of their compensation come from EDIT funds, while 90% would continue to be paid through the town’s General Fund.
“The general fund gets hit hard, and there’s not a lot of revenue there,” Burton told the council. “I’m trying to get creative on how we can spread all that out.”
The proposal calls for revenue of $375,611 through EDIT next year, which is expected to be up from $351,054 this year. The preliminary spending plan also calls for appropriations for health insurance and gasoline to be bumped up slightly next year, Burton said.
After completing the first sidewalk that stretches from the west side to the east side of Hope along Washington St. this summer, Burton said the council will continue to make new sidewalks a priority, especially if they provide safer conditions for children. She is proposing that $70,000 in cumulative capital development funds be set aside for sidewalks in 2024, as well as $40,000 in EDIT funds.
The cumulative capital development fund is expected to rise from $140,000 to $152,000, while revenue from motor vehicle highway taxes is going up from $102,226 to $103,433, according to preliminary information Burton provided to the council.
Much of the federal funds Hope received through the American Relief Plan (ARP) has been set aside to provide matching funds for a grant applied for through the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs. If approved, the grant would be invested in a wastewater construction project involving a new force main, lifting stations and wastewater treatment plant upgrades, Eckart said.
The amount expected to be available in the ARP fund next year is $392,556, which is down from this year’s $460,000.
The money set aside for events next year has been lowered because the amounts received through Indiana’s riverboat tax has been inconsistent in recent years, Burton said. In the clerk-treasurer’s proposal, the amount of money anticipated from casino taxes was dropped from $20,000 to $12,500.
As it now stands, amounts from local roads and streets taxes, the state cigarette tax and for public safety funded through local income taxes will remain the same as this year under Burton’s proposal.
So far, the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance has approved what has been presented to the council. However, Burton said key aspects are still being worked out that include revenue and expenses for the last six months of this year, as well as projected finances for all of next year.
The total 2023 budget for Hope was $2,119,104. A similar total will likely be available in time for the public hearing and first budget reading on Sept. 19.
