BY STEVE ZABROSKI, Times of Northwest Indiana Correspondent
EAST CHICAGO | Nearly a quarter of the city's $23 million take from the lakefront casino this year will fund insurance and budget shortfalls in an administration plan that is up for approval by the City Council tonight.
The appropriations to the self-insurance and general funds -- already $6 million in the red beyond the city's 2008 budget of $58 million -- combined with the annual obligation of $3.5 million pledged to the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority leaves just $13.5 million for other projects.
With the receipt of the year's first property tax draw from the county at the end of March, city department funds should all be balanced, said James Bennett, financial consultant to the controller's office. But some money may need to be moved around in the months ahead.
Just more than $6.5 million of the casino appropriation would be used for engineering projects in the city, including $1 million each for the North Harbor revitalization work, citywide lighting and street improvements, renovation of Block Stadium and the planned Railroad Avenue overpass across the CSX railroad tracks.
The Block Stadium project has been in the works for the past three years, and if 2008 isn't the year for the reconstruction, the money will be returned to the gaming fund, Bennett said.
Likewise with the overpass funding: If CSX Corp. pays the city about $1 million owed through a years-old settlement for prolonged blocking of city streets, the money earmarked for the project would be returned to the gaming fund.
Police and firefighters would receive $1.2 million from the gaming budget, including $175,000 for the purchase of a new ambulance and $700,000 for law enforcement equipment.
The park department, which began the year with a $2.5 million budget deficit, would receive $895,000 in casino funds, with $150,000 for the installation of water and electric service at Tod Park and $530,000 for improvements to Nunez, Callahan and MacArthur parks.
An outstanding parks NIPSCO bill of $180,000 also would be paid with the gaming appropriation.
"We get lawsuits filed every day, and they're expensive to fight," Bennett said, so the city's Law Department would receive $750,000 in casino money to pay contract attorneys for their assistance.
The East Chicago Marina is in line for $500,000 from the appropriation to replace damaged docks and aging boat-lifting equipment.
Money for the demolition of unsafe buildings in the city -- expected to top 100 structures by the end of the year -- also would be enhanced with $400,000 in gaming funds.
The city's Summer Youth Program would be funded with $300,000 in gaming money, with another $100,000 budgeted for initial work on the planned new $51 million water filtration plant.
All of the line-item amounts from the appropriation are just estimates, and any of them could be reduced over the course of the year, with the savings returned to the gaming account, Bennett said.
"We have to plan ahead," Bennett said. "There will be a dramatic cut in property tax receipts in 2009, and we could see a budget reduction of $20 million or more by 2010 if we don't get other sources of revenue."