The McCordsville Town Council held a public hearing on and presented its first reading of the town’s proposed 2025 budget at its September meeting.
Over the past several years, the town has built up a large reserve of cash in both its general fund at nearly $3.8 million and rainy day fund at nearly $3.6 million, which, according to McCordsville Town Manager Tim Gropp and Michael Reuter, a financial consultant for the town, will allow the town to complete several projects in 2025 with cash on hand rather than having to use a bond to pay for it. That projected spending would lead the town to running just under a $2.1 million deficit, leaving about $1.7 million in the general fund before plans to begin building that cash back up in 2026. Spending that cash, Reuter says, will keep McCordsville in contention for several appeals for additional cash from the state to help fund projects later down the line.
The proposed budget would keep tax rates at their current level, as it would add an additional $125,000 expense to the town’s budget out of cash on hand to offset the lack of a minor tax hike that the budget would have otherwise called for.
The total advertised budget adds up to $16,187,421, which, according to Gropp, is approximately $7 million higher than last year’s, although last year’s budget fell an additional $2.6 million from advertisement to initial approval.
The reason for the budget increase is largely due to a combination of an increase in fixed costs, such as an increase in utility costs as the town has more and more meters to pay for with each facility expansion, legal fees and maintenance, and town projects such as roundabouts and other pieces of construction. The budget also anticipates the hiring of 10 additional staff members to the town’s payroll: six full-time year-round employees, one part-time year-round employee and three part-time, summer-only employees.
The budget calculation did not include any funding from or money spent on projects funded by tax increment financing districts, county economic development income tax, a cumulative capital development fund, local option income tax dedicated to public safety (public safety boards such as police and fire have their own budget process), sewer funds, stormwater funds, the rainy day fund, park impact fees, funds allocated to the town from the American Rescue Plan Act or the Cumulative Capital Improvement – Cigarette Tax.
The town now has a month to revise its budget before its second reading final approval in October, when the budget must be completed to comply with state deadlines.
