ELWOOD — “The city of Elwood is in a financial crunch,” Mayor Merrill Taylor said on Monday, opening his State of the City speech before a crowd of Elwood residents. The speech, delivered during the City Council meeting, outlined how the community will be affected by recent property tax cap legislation. The mayor explained that budget constraints may lead to the closure of the city swimming pool and a fee for trash pickup.
In the wake of tax cap legislation approved by lawmakers in March, Taylor says Elwood’s general fund will be hit hard.
“With House Bill 1001 being passed by our legislators on March 14, 2008, and a cap put on property taxes, the city will lose approximately $704,000 in revenue in 2009 and $1,038,000 in revenue in 2010.”
The legislation means that the city will need to make several budget cuts, Taylor explained. “This amount must be taken out of our budget the next two years.”
The city was forced to borrow $800,000 from the utility fund in February in order to keep the general fund balanced. Near the end of 2007, the city borrowed $1.5 million from an outside financial institution due to the late tax draw, Taylor said in February.
Economic Development Director Bill Savage explained that the city faced many challenges in attracting businesses that would breathe new life into the city. “We’re a struggling community. We’re a rural community. We’re out here in the county. We don’t have an interstate running through.”
The mayor has his sights on the city pool. “We need to take a good look at the city swimming pool. Last year with the re-opening of the city pool, we took in receipts of $5,940 and paid out disbursements of $52,604. This is a loss of $46,664.”
Elwood residents could soon see a $10 jump in their city utility bills, the mayor warned. “We may have to charge a fee to residents for trash collection which would probably be added to their city utility bill.”
For $10 a month in trash fees, residents could pump $300,000 of revenue into the city, the mayor said.
The mayor mentioned several infrastructure improvements scheduled throughout the city in the coming year.
The $873,598 in Indiana Department of Transportation funds will make possible the construction of a park at the old Pennsylvania Rail Line site and sidewalk improvements on South A, South B and 16th streets.
The wastewater plant will also be upgraded with $692,900 in grant money. The drilling of two additional wells for the water plant on South P Street is also being considered. “For Elwood to grow and attract new businesses, upgrading our infrastructure is a must,” Taylor said.
Savage says the city has fared well compared to others in one area: job retention.
While industrial plants have folded across the state in recent years, Elwood’s three major manufacturing businesses are holding strong. “As far as the industrial base, we’ve kept jobs.”
Red Gold, Plastech and ELSA provide 1,000 jobs. “Right now, since Guide left, Elwood pretty much has the top three manufacturing jobs,” said Savage.
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