Published: August 09, 2008 12:23 am         

Shipshewana budget falls

SHIPSHEWANA, Ind. — Shipshewana’s budget is dropping.

The proposed $3.75 million Shipshewana town budget for 2009 is $253,619 less than this year’s approved budget.

That is a 6.3 percent decrease over 2008, if the Town Council and Indiana Department of Local Government Finance approve next year’s budget.

Since the budget is tentative, the final form of the budget could look significantly different when all is said and done, according to Clerk-Treasurer Ruth Ann Downey.

Downey said after Wednesday’s special council meeting that no other budget work sessions are planned for this year. If the budget needs to be amended it would have to be done at a regular council meeting or by the Department of Local Government Finance.

Downey said Wednesday that the proposed 2009 budget adoption schedule will be released at a later council meeting.

The 2008 approved budget figure for all funds was $4 million.

If the 2009 budget is approved as proposed, the tax increment financing district fund would be hit the hardest. The council plans to cut $376,000 from this year’s expenditures of $1.13 million

One line item, “additional improvements,” was the biggest factor in the sharp drop. The council is proposing the elimination of the item, which in 2008 accounts for $350,000.

The line item for lease payments for the Shipshewana Town Center is expected to be lowered by another $51,000. However, installing a canopy at the center will cost the town an additional $100,000.

If the proposed budget is approved, expenditures for the general fund would be curtailed by $121,115. Other funds that would suffer deep cuts would be economic development income tax, a $55,430 loss, and the rainy day fund, a $50,000 reduction.

On the positive side, a $130,000 increase in Town Center operating fund spending is planned.

Among the significant line item changes, under the motor vehicle highway fund street improvements spending would rise by $75,000 next year.

Downey said following the meeting that spending on that category would seem like a major increase only because the town took on so few street projects this year.

In what is basically a shell game in the food and beverage tax fund, professional services for engineering would drop by $66,000 in 2009. The services would be related to the proposed Pumpkinvine Trail project.

However, a new line item would be created titled “Pumpkinvine Trail Costs.” That fund would start out with a $60,000 balance.

Also in that fund, park development spending would rise by $31,000.



The net assessed valuation for 2009 is estimated at $51 million, down from $73.2 million approved for 2008.

The total proposed 2009 maximum tax levy is an estimated $1 million, up from $690,318 approved for this calendar year.