Letter to the editor...
After much thought and discussion with friends, family, colleagues and other Adams County residents I feel the need to provide some information about the Adams County Council and how decisions are made.
When it comes to taxes and the budget there are many moving parts that go into those decisions.
All Indiana Counties submit budgets to the Department of Local Government Finance ( DLGF) which then reviews and gives the final ok to budgets and rates as counties are not allowed to go above their maximum levy. The DLGF does this based on overall assessed value and other economic factors and does this in every county. The DLGF routinely adjusts rates so a county’s budget falls within the maximum levy.
As we are all well aware everything goes up and that includes county expenses. Here are a few instances: the IT budget has increased over $700k a year in recent years due to cybersecurity concerns (1 successful attempt could cost millions and everyone’s personal info), we built a new jail which added $1.3 million a year (Allen County is currently going through this) due to capacity & structural issues and health insurance claim cost has increased over the last several years (this seems to constantly go up for everyone), these are just a few examples.
There are grants from the state that aren’t actually county tax dollars, but go into the county budget for specific items. When this happens it makes our budget appear larger but we are essentially a pass through for those funds. A wheel tax was added around 4 years ago and that’s about a million dollars a year. These funds get distributed to the county and to the cities and towns in our county.
I spoke with several of the council members on County Council at the time as well as our state representative about this. Adams County currently receives a 75% state match to Adams County’s 25% for road projects. The state said if you want that 75% match, you’ll have a wheel tax. Our Council at the time chose to make it $25 (they had the option to make it up to $50) and that’s collected when we buy our license plates.
It’s impossible to explain everything in a short letter but I’ve tried to show a little bit of what our tax dollars go for. I take my job on the Council seriously and try to keep taxes to a minimum, we all pay those same taxes. I did not vote against lowering taxes. I can’t vote on something when I don’t yet have all the details. In a year when there is record setting inflation the decisions get even more difficult. I try to make decisions that are best for our county, that are fair to its employees and that keep the county running efficiently as possible while keeping our community the great community that it is.
Thank you,
Fred Velez
County Council District 1