For the third consecutive year, Warsaw taxpayers will not see a hike in their tax rate.
Mayor Joe Thallemer and City Council finished work Monday on the 2019 budget with a handful of cuts totaling $247,550 and pointed to continued growth as the reason for the flat rate.
The 2019 rate will be $1.2797 per $100 of assessed value. This year, it was $1.2725. Prior to that, in 2017, it was $1.2741.
At the same time, development and investment continue to grow in the city, bumping up the amount of assessed value by $37 million to $917 million for next year.
Those figures don’t include hundreds of acres of property picked up by the city through several annexations this year. That impact, estimated by another $31 million, will show up next year.
Much of that annexation includes more than 400 acres near the airport the city intended to help develop for industrial use.
The entire budget to run the city in 2019 – including stormwater, wastewater, fire and civil city – will be $46,144,677, according to a number provided by the city.
“We’re doing the right things, we’re attracting investment into the community. We’re doing what’s best for Warsaw and it’s showing,” Thallemer said.
Clerk-Treasurer Lynne Christiansen pointed out the city is not collecting as much as it could under the maximum levy for fire or city.
For the city, the 2019 budget is under the maximum by $319,265. The maximum was $9.41 million.
The fire territory budget will be $391,123 below the $4,056,115 maximum that could be collected.
“We hate to leave money on the table, but we don’t need it,” Thallemer said.
The upbeat report is good news for Thallemer and his seven Republican colleagues on council ahead of next year’s municipal elections.
Councilman Mike Klondaris was one of several colleagues to embrace the good news.
“It tells me we’re on the right track. We are being progressive and moving toward the future and I’m proud of being part of it,” Klondaris said.
Council President Diane Quance credited and thanked the role of the redevelopment commission, which has been setting the stage for additional growth in numerous ways. She and Cindy Dobbins also thanked department heads for their role.
“The taxpayers are definitely getting their money’s worth,” Quance said.
The good news comes just weeks after council approved a second rate hike for sewer customers in the past two years. Those hikes are being used to help pay for $41 million in sewer- related projects.
