The town of Merrillville is working to make sure its needs are met with the money it'll have available next year. The town council adopted the 2024 budget Tuesday. It totals just over $45.4 million, having been cut by almost $2 million from the initial proposal.
Interim Town Manager Michael Griffin said he worked with department heads to trim the proposed general fund from $13 million down to about $12.3 million. "We tried very hard to try to separate wants from needs, but I will be frank. I've worked with a lot of department heads in my career. The department heads here have already been fairly good about discerning their needs from wants, so really, it was about the needs, to serve the people of Merrillville," Griffin told council members.
To make sure it's fully funded, town officials have identified $100,000 that's unlikely to be used this year. A first reading was held on an ordinance to remove it from this year's budget, so it's available to spend in 2024. "That'll give us a chance to have further discussion with the department heads to explain our rationale for the choices we made and for the council to make a final determination if they want to embrace this in its entirely or something less. Any of it will help the budget reconciliation that we're hoping for," Griffin explained.
Still, Merrillville's next clerk-treasurer is promising some changes to the budget process next year. Eric January, who's running unopposed in November's election, said he plans to bring people with budgeting expertise on-staff and limit the use of outside consultants.
"The treasurer is supposed to be the fiscal agent of the town, and when I participated in a lot of the meetings, I didn't get that feel that the treasurer was a central figure, when it came to money. And that's something I do want to change," January said.
January also wants to revisit an agreement that requires the town to give 20 percent of its local income tax revenue to the West Lake Corridor commuter rail project that doesn't actually go through Merrillville. But Town Attorney Joe Svetanoff felt it would be nearly impossible to back out now.
"It's worth litigating if you have a stance," Svetanoff told January. "Right now, we don't have a stance on that. So, if you'd like to litigate it when you come into your office in January, feel free to."
Council member Shawn Pettit noted that the town committed the tax revenue at the request of former U.S. Representative Pete Visclosky, after he'd secured federal funding for other projects in Merrillville. At the time, proposals called for possible future phases that would have extended commuter rail service to the town.