By MARGARET L. WILLIS

The Burns Harbor Town Council met Monday, to hear the Department of Local Government Finance 1782 Notice, the final town budget numbers for 2007.

The biggest change in the total budget affected the Park Department, where DLGF said only $49,724 of the requested $70,000 would be allocated from property taxes. The council then chose to cut that budget.

The council unanimously adopted the towns’ DLGF approved 2007 budget numbers, totaling $1,976,521.

Voting in favor were President Jim McGee, Bernie Poparad, Richard Bolinger and Mike Perrine. Louis Bain is on active duty with the Marines in Iraq, on his third tour. He was serving his second tour when the budget was first proposed and approved last year around this same time.

The amount to be raised through property tax levies is $1,302,010. The remainder will be raised mainly through the Tax Increment Finance District to cover the Sewer Bonds.

Just over half of the total, $1,157,386, is proposed for the General Fund. The second largest allocation would go toward the Sewer Bonds, $548,053.

Local Roads and Streets will get $50,000 and Motor Vehicle Highway $81,077.

The Park Department budget, proposed at $70,000, was cut to $49,724, while the Cumulative Capital Development Fund will receive $60,000. The CCI Sewer Fund was set at $10,000.

Incorrect AV?

The budget is based on an estimated Total Assessed Valuation of $540,477,246, down from last year’s AV, which clerk-treasurer Jane Jordan said today “doesn’t seem right.”

Jordan said she’ll be seeking an adjustment in the AV. Improvements at Mittal Steel and the increases in residential development in town should have led to an increased AV, she said. “I’ve been asking a lot of questions,” she added.

Council president McGee said today he feels Jordan is not getting the information she has asked for. “The numbers don’t make sense,” he said.

The individual tax rate is set at .2409 cents per $100 of assessed valuation, up from the current .17 and up from the originally estimated .21

The budget numbers include the increase in the maximum levy the council had sought, based on the growth of the town over the last three years. The council sought and received an increase of $350,000 over the maximum allowable levy.

Posted 8/30/2007