MERRILLVILLE — After some trimming, the Town Council has adopted its 2023 spending plan.
The council recently unanimously approved the second reading of an ordinance associated with the total budget of $46.5 million.
When the budget was introduced at the end of September, Trista Hudson, Merrillville’s financial consultant, said the spending plan would need to be adjusted to a figure the town could sustain.
Since that meeting, about $500,000 was cut from the 2023 general fund, bringing that down to about $11.2 million, said Eric Cender, another town financial consultant from Cender|Dalton Municipal Advisors.
The general fund is expected to receive more than $8.2 million through taxes, but the general fund also receives money through building permits and various licenses required in town, Hudson said.
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Cender said Merrillville also reduced the amount in the local option income tax fund designated for public safety. That dropped by about $600,000.
Cender said there are expenditures involving the Police Department that would have come from those dollars, but the town can use American Rescue Plan funding to cover them in 2023. He said the town’s American Rescue Plan budget is at about $5.8 million.
While reviewing the 2023 budget, Town Councilman Leonard White again asked whether Merrillville’s tax rate would increase for property owners next year.
In September, Hudson said the tax rate isn’t changing, but residents could pay more in property taxes if their assessed values increased.
Cender reiterated that statement when the council adopted the spending plan.
“Residents may have received increased assessed values on their homes, but the council has not made any decisions to increase tax rates,” he said.