The Knox City Council members received information about the budget this week from Clerk-Treasurer Jeff Houston.
The city, along with all other taxing entities in Starke County, is part of a pilot program with the state this year. A meeting was held on Oct. 6 where a state analysis was reviewed. Houston said the county then provided the city with a non-binding recommendation. The city could face a huge cut in 2015.
“Our appropriation request this year had an increase of 2.44 percent and the growth quotient for the state was 2.7 percent and Starke county was 3.5 percent. We were within that. Our report came back from our circuit breaker credits. They’re projected to double to about $463,000. This is a projected projected circuit breaker of which we will get less. We’ll have the appropriation – that much less money will be distributed from the county,” said Houston.
Houston explained that he will be going to each individual supervisor and have them cut their budgets just like he did for this year’s budget.
“I went back to the individual supervisors and for example, the clerk-treasurer’s office is 6.26 percent of the total budget so we were asked to cut 6.2 percent from our budget. The police department was cut almost 42 percent. When that budget order comes through and when we know exactly how much our circuit breaker credits are going to be, then we’ll face that at that time.”
The final budget papers will be signed as soon as that paperwork is prepared.
