The second round of 2022 budget presentations were the main bulk of Monday evening’s common council meeting at Warsaw City Hall.
Airport Manager Nick King was the first one up, whose general aviation is about 21 percent higher than last year, totaling just over $1.2 million. King briefly discussed the power line lowering project east of the airport, saying that the construction on the trusses is expected to start in 2023, with the gathering of all material in 2022.
Next was Jennifer Whitaker, the Director of Human Resources. Her budget is down slightly for 2022 at $231,000, about $29,000 lower.
Building and Planning Director Justin Taylor presented his 2022 budget that reflected only a three percent hike at $841,000.
Next was Warsaw-Wayne Fire Territory Chief Michael Wilson, who first briefly discussed his retirement next June and had several of his firefighters in attendance to show how the budget is presented and what goes into the planning and presentation of the budget.
The fire department’s budget took a healthy jump by 23.2 percent at $5.5 million, up from $4.49 million the year prior. It includes nearly $500,000 in pension, along with three new hires and a replacement on the department’s B shift.
The department’s equipment replacement fund with a notable 59.5 percent decrease. The 2022 proposed budget is at $462,600, down from over $1.1 million the year before. Wilson said that comes with changes to Station 2 repairs. The budget also included money for the eighth tornado siren and money for the change in radios when the new county communications system goes online.
The last presentation of the night came from Jeremy Skinner, the community economic and development director. Skinner presented seven different budgets which included the Warsaw Technology Park with a proposed budget is $1,217,000; Redevelopment General, $315,000; Northern Residential TIF, $150,000; Southern Residential TIF, $70,000; Redevelopment Allocation, $723,500; Redevelopment Northern TIF, $3,874,098; and Winona Interurban, $25,000.
The first public hearing regarding the 2022 budget will be during the September 20th common council meeting, which begins at 7 PM.
