This post was provided by News Now Warsaw

By Dan Spalding
News Now Warsaw

WARSAW — Two area state lawmakers defended passage of SB 1, the property tax reform bill, which will have an impact on local governments.

Local elected officials have expressed concern, with some predicting that all of the taxing units in Kosciusko County — including cities, schools, towns, libraries, and Kosciusko County — will see a combined $5 million in lost tax revenue.

State Rep. Craig Snow and State Sen. Ryan Mishler both addressed the local budget issue. Snow said that with the exception of Warsaw schools, other taxing units will only see the rate of growth in tax revenue slow and won’t be reduced overall.

Warsaw schools are expected to see a decrease in funding of about $1.1 million.

Both lawmakers spoke on a wide range of issues Tuesday to Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce members and were asked what their message was to elected leaders who have expressed concern.

Despite the claims, they contend that local tax revenues are not being cut — instead, they are just not growing as once expected.

Snow points out that Kosciusko County, in 2026, will see anticipated revenue growth of 1.8 percent. In 2027, it’ll grow 4.9 percent while Warsaw will grow 3.7 percent in 2026 and 6.6 percent in 2027.

Snow said he received calls from local leaders concerned about the budget cuts.

“You know, I look at Tony Ciriello, president of the county (council), pulling his hair out, thinking, ‘My gosh, the sky’s falling. We’re gonna start out the year with millions in deficits.’ That’s not the case. You just may not be able to do that project this year. You may have to wait a year,” Snow said.

Snow also took a shot at consulting firms that work with taxing units on forecasting budget trends. One of those was Baker Tilly, which works with the city of Warsaw.

“But holy cow, when you come into a group, the county, the city, and schools, and start presenting this stuff, (need to) present it in an accurate fashion,” Snow said. “The sky is not exactly falling. You’re just gonna get a little less of your game.”

Lawmakers faced more pressure after receiving a revenue forecast for future years that predicted a potential $2.4 billion decrease in state revenues in the future.

Overall, crafters of the state budget sought decreases of upward to 10 percent.

Mishler argued that circumstances involving state budget decisions are even more constraining than what is happening at the local level.

“In year 2, locals are going to have a 5.1 percent increase — projected — and we’re (state) going to see one tenth of a percent,” Mishler said. “We’re not really feeling the sympathy there.”

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