Warsaw City Council held a special budget meeting Monday night at city hall. The purpose of the meeting was to set meeting dates to review the 2015 budget and to hear a comprehensive financial plan. The council will meet Monday from 6 to 9 p.m. at city hall to review non-profit budgets including City-County Athletic Complex, Warsaw Housing Authority, Kosciusko Area Bus Services, Animal Welfare League, Warsaw Community Development Corp. and OrthoWorx. A meeting also will be Aug. 18 from 6 to 9 p.m. to review city department budgets including airport, cemetery, fire, street, building and planning, police, park, clerk, human resources and the mayor’s budget. The salary ordinance must be adopted by Nov. 3. Also during the meeting, Todd Samuelson, CPA for Umbaugh & Associates, reviewed a comprehensive financial plan with the city. He said the city has been able to maintain a healthy financial standing, and while expenditures have been fairly level the revenue sources have not kept pace. Samuelson recommended reallocating property tax levies from other funds with greater cash reserves: for example, $23,000 per year from the parks and recreation to the general fund. The idea also is to issue a new general obligation debt bond in 2014 to fund capital spending with minimal to no tax impact. This could free up $450,000 in the general fund.
