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Towns plan to submit budgets as usual |
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Monday, August 11 2008 |
By CHRIS MEYERS
Staff writer
Citing extra work that’s needed at the end of each year, and saying they already had their budget finished when they heard of the extended deadline, local town clerk-treasurers are going ahead with the usual budget schedule this year.
They have the option to delay the budget submission to the Department of Local Government and Finance until December, but say they have enough done at this point that there’s no need to wait.
“Everything should be wrapped up by mid September,” said Mitch Winger, clerk-treasurer for South Whitley.
Both he and Gerri Johnson, clerk-treasurer for Churubusco, say they don’t think there would be enough benefit to wait until December.
Johnson also said there are end-of-the-year reports and many other things that need taken care of at the end of the year, adding the budget to them would likely only complicate matters, she said.
Officials with the DLGF say they are aware that not all towns, cities and schools will be able to take advantage of the extended deadline but hope it will help some with better budget estimates.
One of the reasons the DLGF gave for extending the deadline was so towns, cities and school districts could get more exact numbers on assessed valuation and student population, respectively, which may lead to more precise budget estimates.
But, as Winger said, the budgets have always been estimated in the past based on the previous years’ expenses, so estimating for the 2009 budget likely will not be any more difficult than in 2008.
Both Churubusco and South Whitley town councils plan to approve their 2009 budgets at their September meetings. |
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, August 12 2008 )
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