Fort Wayne City Controller Garry Morr said Mayor Sharon Tucker’s $246.2 million budget proposal for 2025 is designed to manage the ongoing growth of the city, but he and other officials said the state government’s property tax caps could hinder that effort in the future.
During introduction of the budget at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting, Morr said he was “concerned” about the state capping property tax levies at four percent instead of letting them grow to five.
He said he was afraid the city’s growth could outpace that cap and hurt the city’s ability to provide essential services in the future.
City Councilman Geoff Paddock, D-5, who is reviewing his 13th city budget proposal as a city council member, agreed. He said both major party nominees in Indiana’s governor’s race promising to cut property taxes further would put the burden on municipalities in the coming years.
“Do we continue to try to add officers and firefighters?” Paddock said. “Do we try to continue the same level of investment in neighborhoods and parks and so on? There may be some tougher decisions in the future. That’s yet to be determined.”
Both Paddock and Morr said this was not a concern for the 2025 budget, but it was something city leaders will need to be mindful of in the future.
Morr said he wanted to end his presentation to the council Tuesday night on a “positive” note.
“Our city is in a very strong financial condition,” Morr said.
Paddock said the city used cash to pay for projects in recent years which has helped it save money from revenue streams. He said the city has enough cash reserves to mitigate the impact of lost property tax revenues in the future better than most other communities.
The Fort Wayne City Council has until the end of October to approve the 2025 city budget. Paddock said he expects that discussion and vote to be at the body’s Oct. 22 meeting.
