Fort Wayne Mayor Tom Henry and his Fiscal Policy Group today outlined a framework of ideas to save the community money and bring additional revenue to the City of Fort Wayne.
Mayor Henry created the Fiscal Policy Group in 2012. Since that time, the group’s been tasked with gaining a full understanding of fiscal conditions and identifying financial options available to the City to help meet fiscal challenges in 2014 and beyond.
Fort Wayne is the first in city in Indiana to assemble a team of local and state experts, members of City Council and City staff to develop strategies to combat looming budget issues.
Property tax caps implemented by the Indiana General Assembly have made it more difficult for cities to meet demands and expectations. The impact of property tax caps has been in effect since 2009, and the result has been a loss of $53 million in revenue to the City.
However, through strong fiscal management, leadership and bipartisan efforts, the City’s been able to weather the storm and build a healthy savings account. But, due to continued constraints on the budget because of the tax caps, the City’s had to continue to utilize its savings account to fund essential services.
The Fiscal Policy Group recently completed its final meeting. A framework of ideas has been developed and can be accomplished while maintaining services that citizens have come to expect.
Highlights of Fiscal Policy Group’s framework of ideas:
*Add academy class for Police and Fire – 20 new police officers and 15 new firefighters
*Fund needed, annual capital improvements for streets, roads, and parks facilities
*Use portion of Legacy funds; $1 million per year for five years for neighborhood street and road improvements
*Revise benefits package that employees receive to better align with benefits offered in the private sector
*Move fire protection fees from property tax bill to City Utilities bill
*Adopt local option income taxes – Result would be increase in public safety workforce and additional property tax relief
*Explore annexations
*Reduce operating expenses by $5 million and maintain a cash reserve of 7% of operating revenue ($10 million)
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