City Council got into the meat of the discussion Tuesday night regarding a fiscal plan proposed by the administration that could result in changes to city employee benefits and a Local Option Income Tax that would affect all income earners in Allen County.
The proposed changes are necessitated by property tax caps that have cost the city $53 million in revenue since 2009. In 2012 Mayor Tom Henry convened a Fiscal Policy Group to come up with ideas for maintaining city services and funding unmet needs without laying off employees.
Councilmen Russ Jehl, R-2nd, and Mitch Harper, R-4th, have proposed an alternative plan that would not raise income taxes but would deplete Legacy and CEDIT funding.
At the end of the 2 1/2-hour meeting no decisions had been made, but council was somewhat closer to determining what the city needs in 2014 and how much it will cost.
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At the end of the 2 1/2 hour meeting council was faced with figuring out how to fund between $14 million and $22 million in unmet needs for 2014, with the discrepancy between the two numbers being how much to spend on streets and how much to leave in cash reserves.
The discussion will continue next week. Eventually council will get around to discussing whether to implement the benefit cuts and tax increase proposed by the Fiscal Policy Group.
