Following months of delay, Allen County Council approved $5.4 million in CEDIT funds for local organizations on Wednesday.
The budget was requested by the Allen County Commissioners in October and included $11.6 million in funds, which the council parsed down with a line-by-line vote, requested by At-Large Councilman Ken Fries.
Fries said early on in the meeting he would be voting against money for any organizations that weren’t government entities, which included most of the list for the funds. Fries voted no in every vote except for infrastructure engineering and rural development.
The County Council passed 10 of 13 line items included in the appropriation budget. Funds for the Northeast Indiana Innovation Center failed 1-5-1, with one absent council member, due to concerns over whether the Innovation Center is fulfilling its mission.
These line items approved include funding for Fort Wayne Historical Society, Arts United, rural development, and downtown improvement.
The council decided not to vote on the GM bond of $152,000, because the money wasn’t needed at this time, and on the $5.9 million lease rental for the new Allen County jail, with the expectation they’ll revisit it for next year.
