By Phil Wieland, Times of Northwest Indiana
phil.wieland@nwi.com
VALPARAISO | Although the city didn't get the whole amount of its property tax levy, Clerk-Treasurer Sharon Swihart said she was just happy to get the money before the end of the year.
"I'm pretty pleased to get the final settlement," Swihart said. "I'm not pleased with the shortfall, but I'm pleased we got the money."
The final settlement was delivered Wednesday from the Porter County auditor's office. The $16.25 million total the city received for the taxes payable in 2009 was 94.7 percent of the amount billed. That means a shortfall of about $855,000 from what was budgeted, but Swihart said the city's fiscal health is hale enough to withstand a hit of that magnitude.
"We've got a reserve built up in the health insurance fund, so if we have to cut the 2010 budget, which is calculated on getting 100 percent of the levy, that's the place we can cut," she said.
Getting the funds before the end of the year also means the city will be able to pay off the loans it had to take out during the year to pay operating expenses instead of having to roll them over into the new year. Swihart said the city collected a higher percentage of its 2007 property taxes, payable in 2008, but the near 99 percent total actually was less than the city got for the current taxes.
The uncertainty over when the final settlement of taxes would come, especially because last year's taxes were just distributed at the end of September, was one of the reasons the 2010 city budget does not include any across-the-board raises for employees. Other unknowns included the impact of the tax caps imposed by the state Legislature and the long delays in getting the budget approved by the state.
"We do the budget on an 18-month basis, and it's tough to do the 2010 budget when you don't get one approved for 2009," Swihart said.
The city will have to borrow again in January to operate until the money from the next round of annual property taxes begins coming in. Swihart said she will borrow about $3 million at the end of January, but, if the county gets back on the regular schedule of sending out tax bills due in May and November as County Auditor James Kopp said will be done, no more borrowing should be needed to pay bills for the rest of the year.