Reply To: Budget Blueprint

[Johnny Hill]

Council,

I would like to clarify that my previous post is what I considered as a minimum tax increase required and not necessarily what I think we should go forward with. I have received a response from one of our citizens (Barry Plante) regarding my post and would like to share it with you here. Mr. Plante brings up some valid points for us to consider in finalizing the budget. I will go through another budget scenario and see what it would look like with a 10% tax increase. I will also post that here on this forum.

Johnny,
Thanks for your assessment of the budget. Very informative. I was somewhat surprised with the TOTAL cost of city labor driven by loads. Tough situation to be in. Doing this on iPhone in Colorado so excuse the grammar.

First off, we need to remind ourselves that all this 2025 budget and tax rate issue is short term because our city operating budget is unsustainable without major change. You will be at it again next year, only worse. Think strategically when laying out this budget.

Few unorganized comments:
– Any change in assessed property values proportionally affects city income. Could be good or bad. Big unknown.
– Last year the state increased the homestead exemption to $140k which negatively affects the city’s income. Was that even considered?
– SA tax rate is 32% of the total tax assessed to households which means that we don’t have control of 68%.
– Stopping COLAs on the work force should only be this year. Keeping that logic in future years is detrimental to the workforce.
– Do we really need a part time police chief for a small police force? Likewise I would say we just need a part-time city manager for the few employees.
– Any unknown unknowns (infrastructure failures) will be problematic to fund.
– If you move forward with bare bone budget as is, the smallest M&O and repairs will be likely be deferred which makes it worse in the future. Just look at the city public works building…weeds growing out of gutters.
– I see so many complaints about inability to fix basic things like benches, play grounds, tree maintenance etc. We could go on and on. I see a nightmare unfolding and council meetings will all be about little things which will negatively impact strategic planning.

My closing thoughts:
– We all hate tax increases but I think you have to hike the SA tax a minimum of 10% for 2025 to get through this mess hole. Right now, you have authority to increase the tax rate to .961320% (thats a 15% increase). Keep in mind that even a 10% increase amounts to a 3% overall property tax increase. No different than a 3% increase in assessed property values.
– If you do increase taxes, it needs to be accompanied with a strategic plan to change the way we provide services or be integrated into LaPorte.
– I still question why we spend $250k+ on emergency response. We lived without this for several decades. I know people expect similar services as our neighbors that have a commercial tax base. It’s now kinda like an “entitlement” that we can’t afford.
– Fully transition PD to LaPorte beginning this FY so that done by 2026 if possible. I would think they can do this cheaper And that will make transition to LP easier if we do. Worth investigating.

Good luck with this. Feel free to share with other council members. I would be glad to help when I get back…even as a sounding board.

Also, I would be glad to help with writing a realistic and clear job description for city manager who has 3-4 people to manage along with contracts.

PS – in your spare time, please fix the flood ordinance that you guys screwed up. Lol

Sincerely,
Barry Plante