County commissioners came up with a new plan to provide a little bit more money to Thrive Allen County for economic development, but it won’t change the budget.
Commissioners will allocate $30,000 for Thrive in 2023. That’s $10,000 more than last year. The money is already in the budget, but in a different way.
In recent years, the county has budgeted $20,000 annually for Thrive, along with $10,000 for miscellaneous economic development efforts such as to pay for fees to conferences or seminars.
Now, the entire amount will go to Thrive, as well as the nearly $10,000 or so left in this year’s miscellaneous economic development budget.
Commissioners voted to publish the budget with a very slight tax rate decrease, 0.019 of a mill. A public hearing is set for 9:30 a.m. on Aug. 23, where they likely will vote to finalize the budget.
COMMISSIONER Bruce Symes on Tuesday asked commissioners to reconsider the economic development budget.
Heading into the budget process two weeks ago, commissioners hoped to provide more money to Thrive. The county’s valuation increased by about $10 million this year, which means tax dollars will stretch further.
Their goal was to hold the line or even decrease the tax rate, which they did.
But increases such as from general inflation, higher fuel, insurance and other costs as well as a 6% wage increase to county employees meant commissioners needed to pare the budget. Each department that asked for an increase was asked to accept a smaller amount.
The end result was no new money for economic development.
“We worked really really hard to get to a number and I think we’ve done a good job,” Symes said.
However, he added, he was concerned about the amount given for economic development. The county, Thrive and other communities have worked hard in that area in recent years. Their efforts led to new grocery stores in multiple communities, infrastructure improvements at the airport, and recruitment of industries such as Peerless.
“We’re taking the lead in a lot of ways. I’m proud of what we’ve done,” he said.
“I also think of all the work we’ve done to get to that mill levy, but what does it mean if we don’t try to sustain ourselves as a county, stop the bleeding as far as population loss and maybe even grow? It’s an investment. It’s a leap of faith, but we’ve got momentum.”
He asked his fellow commissioners to take another look at the budget and see if there was a way to find the money.
“If we stay where we are, I’m afraid we’ll lose the momentum.”
