Pictured at the City of Warsaw Police Department are KLA Cadet Mary Horan, Lake City Bank; Brad Tandy, Kosciusko County Council; District 22 State Representative Rebecca Kubacki; City of Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer; KLA Moderator Allyn Decker; and KLA Cadet Doug Baumgardner, 1st Source Bank.

By JONI TRUEX
Kosciusko Leadership Academy Public Information Director

Kosciusko Leadership Academy met at the City of Warsaw Police Department to learn about local and state government in Kosciusko County.

District 22 State Representative Rebecca Kubacki shared her thoughts on governmental influence. The Government should not dictate belief systems. Each person has a right to their own beliefs.

The state of Indiana has a balanced budget. The discussion now is how large of a surplus does the state need to maintain. Gambling revenues are down and these funds are used for education and a variety of costs.

Kubacki also spoke on the health care costs and educational costs in the state.

Early childhood education is currently not funded at the same level as higher education. Kubacki also addressed non documented children entering the country illegally.

From her perspective, the children are better off to stay with their parents, even if they have little. The coyotes and drug cartels are the ones benefiting from bringing these children here. The children want to stay with their parents, not be sent to a foreign country.

Brad Tandy, Kosciusko County Councilman is in his fifth term and has served over 20 years. Tandy is also general council at Biomet. He spoke on county government.

The county has a huge impact on our lives, especially in Indiana.

The county council has the ability to tax and raise funds. Recently the county has increased the County Optional Income Tax and adopted the wheel tax. Three county commissioners implement policies that benefit the count and the county council approved the funding.

Kosciusko County has a $6 million operating budget. There is less funding coming to the county.

Highway department costs to chip and seal a 1 mile stretch costs $13,000. To pave a one mile stretch of road costs $110,000.

The jail currently houses 270 inmates with a capacity of 330. The law is changing on incarceration.

Each year the county provides $152,000 to Kosciusko Economic Development Corp. to attract and retain businesses.

Mayor Joe Thallamer, City of Warsaw, addressed the cadets and spoke about the cooperation and collaboration with the county.

The city has several revenue sources but these are being constrained. Road salt cost is going up 40 percent. Health insurance is increasing in price 5 percent or more. This is a tough economic environment.

There has been an economic development paradigm shift. Livability is a main concern for many people. Communities are becoming the business attractor.

People want a community that is livable, attractive, and well run. Public school performance is first and livability a close second. Third on the list are amenities/safety. Prospective housing appreciation is also very important.

Market Street will be slightly widened to allow parking and a 10 foot walk/bike path.

The City of Warsaw recently unveiled the Comprehensive Master plan.

The cost to bring the Seward Johnson statues to Warsaw was $60,000. The statues brought a lot of people to downtown Warsaw stated Mayor Thallemer.

The next KLA session will focus on presentation skills Tuesday, Oct. 21, at DePuy Synthes. KLA Alumni are welcome to attend.

KLA is a not for profit organization devoted to serving Kosciusko County by encouraging leaders and future leaders to dream and create a better community through white paper projects.