Saturday, January 11, 2014

Reporter Reports Greenfield Council Forced to Trim Budget

From the Greenfield Reporter:

City officials won’t be able to pay for quite everything they had hoped for this year because of cuts that had to be made to the 2014 budget.

The Greenfield City Council Wednesday agreed to a plan that removed a new mechanic position from the budget, dipped into cash reserves for employees and chopped funds from street construction to make ends meet.

Clerk-Treasurer Larry Breese has been working on the plan for the past month, ever since he received word from the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance that the revenues the city had projected will not be as high as they thought.

The biggest blow to the city’s budget was in the fire territory fund. The city had planned for nearly $4.8 million in expenses, but the state only approved $3.7 million – a difference of $753,000.

Breese said the cut was because of the 2011 decision to reduce the tax rate for Center Township residents. The city objected to the cut in 2012, but an Indiana Tax Court judge still hasn’t rendered a ruling on what Greenfield Fire Territory’s tax rate should be.

http://www.greenfieldreporter.com/view/local_story/Council-forced-to-trim-budget_1389323145#.UtCxP5V3vIU