Tax Realty Consultant

A Noblesville councilor is hoping his counterparts will pass a plan for an emergency fund that will serve as a “savings account” for the city for years to come.

Hinds

Alan Hinds will request Tuesday that the city create a contingency fund to be used in case the “financial condition of the city becomes acute,” read the proposal penned by Hinds.
Even though the four-term councilor – who was defeated in May’s primary election – has a little more than a month left in his term, he said his plan has long-term ramifications.
“In my view, the contingency fund (if) approved by the council is a direct link to both current events and common sense,” said Hinds, adding that however future councils want to use the fund in the best interests of the city is to their discretion.
He pointed out that it’s apparent, because of the state of Indiana’s property tax system, that changes are imminent.
“That certainty and its uncertain impact on our revenue sources for local government make it imperative that we strongly think past a yearly budget,” Hinds said.
If the ordinance is passed, the plan calls for initial funding of $300,000 from the city’s County Option Income Tax coffers.
Hinds said the fund has an acknowledged rationale and would be used only for fiscal emergencies. He pointed out the account would be “systematically funded with unspent monies from the budget.”
“It’s a bit self-deceptive to say we saved an amount only to put it back into a ‘spending account,’” Hinds said. “Monies saved will be money saved.”
The appropriations for the account would come from different areas, such as over-funded percentages in various city accounts. The councilor did say the plan has limitations such as the transferable amount can only be a maximum of 10 percent of the city’s annual budget.
The District 2 representative had brought the idea up at the budget sessions held earlier in the year and at last month’s council retreat.
Counterpart Dale Snelling has continually asked Hinds what the subsidy would be used for. At the Oct. 24 retreat, Snelling added that if there are any fiscal concerns, the council has always received sound advice from longtime financial consultant Mike Reuter.

http://www.county29.net/cms2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=8238&Itemid=230