The Winona Lake Town Council budget committee met with Town Marshal Joe Hawn Friday to help complete the town’s 2024 budget. Pictured from left are Hawn, Councilman Austin Reynolds, Councilwoman and clerk-treasurer-elect Heather James, Town Manager Craig Allebach and Council President Rick Swaim. Photo by David Slone.

By David Slone
Times-Union

WINONA LAKE — Hoping to get the town’s 2024 budget completed by the end of 2023, the Winona Lake Town Council budget committee met with Town Marshal Joe Hawn Friday, Aug. 25, to work on next year’s police budget.

The committee had already met with the town’s other departments, except for the street department and that’s contractual. Before the committee’s meeting Friday, members Austin Reynolds, town councilman, and Heather James, town councilwoman and clerk-treasurer-elect, met with the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance.

The budget committee was formed due to bookkeeping and other issues under the current clerk-treasurer, who also met with the DLGF but did not sit in on the committee meeting afterward. Town Manager Craig Allebach and Council President Rick Swaim did participate in the committee’s meeting Friday.

After going through Hawn’s requests, the 2024 police department budget could land at somewhere between $500,000 and $600,000 with the bulk of that being for salaries and benefits.

The actual 2023 budget for salaries was $399,529.49. Hawn asked if the town was looking at raises for 2024, and Allebach said yes and they would probably plug in 4% at this point. Swaim said that 4% would add about $16,000 to the approximate $400,000.

Allebach later asked Hawn if he had figured in the school resource officer for Lakeland Christian. Hawn said he just got off the phone with Lakeland’s administrator, Joe Elrod, right before the budget committee meeting and Elrod told him that he was anticipating to know by the beginning of September or late October “whether or not he’s going to be able to pay for 80% of that SRO this year as well.” Hawn said they were going to use the opioid settlement money to pay for DARE and SRO Phillip Hawks’ salary this year.

Allebach asked if the $416,000 then does not include Hawks. Hawn said that was correct so the town’s 20% of Hawks’ salary would need to be added into that budget.

“I think what needs to happen is 100% of that salary needs to be taken in, and then that is paid then from the 80/20 agreement. So you’re figuring in the total salary, but you’re being reimbursed to pay that out,” Allebach said, adding that 100% of Hawks’ salary needs to be put in the budget. When and if Lakeland pays the 80% of the salary, that money will then go into the salaries and wages fund.

“Everything needs to be included as if you didn’t have a grant. And then what’s coming in is helping to offset the cost of that grant. Because if something catastrophic came, you still have money budgeted there,” Allebach said.

Later in the meeting, Hawn brought Hawks’ salary back up, saying, “We are looking at using the opioid settlement money for that, depending on what Lakeland comes up with. If Lakeland comes up with a grant and they’ll pay for it, but we’ve still got enough money in the opioid to pay for 2023, up until the end of the year. But it would almost deplete the fund. So I’m hoping that Joe Elrod’s going to come up with that percent of money to be able to pay for that.”

Swaim said the opioid settlement funds were limited in what they could be used for, but Hawn said that money could be used for the town’s 20% for the SRO.

Right now, the town is looking at paying 100% for 2023 and then 20% for 2024, Allebach said, unless Lakeland can get the grant for 80% of the 2023 SRO salary and benefits. Allebach said there was enough money for the town to pay 100% for 2023 if needed.

Reynolds said the 2024 budget was at $503,000 without Hawks’ salary. It was determined that Hawks’ salary was $2,351.41 biweekly, or $61,136 annually. Adding in the benefits and insurance, that’s $68,068.53. The town’s health insurance premium is increasing 7.1% for next year, Allebach said.

Reynolds said they needed to add Hawks’ salary to the $400,000, then add 4% onto that number for the salary increases for the whole department.

Toward the end of the meeting — after a 10-minute discussion on electric vehicles and whether or not the police department should look into going electric and if they would save money with EVs – Reynolds said maybe the town should look at giving more than a 4% salary increase because of the increase the state is giving their police force.

Allebach said the state was trying to make up for going many years without giving officers any salary increases. “They did bump it up quite a bit,” he said.

Reynolds said he was concerned about being competitive.

Hawn responded, “For competitiveness, the big thing – I’ve had a talk with Craig a little bit about this – right now our longevity pay really stinks. It’s $150 a year for longevity per officer.”

When Reynolds asked what longevity was, Hawn explained it’s, “every year you get another $150.” It’s added to the officer’s base pay.

Hawn said he called around and found that the sheriff’s office, Warsaw and Syracuse police departments all have 1% longevity pay. He said that 1% would help Winona compared to the $150. That longevity pay has probably not be looked at in about 30 years.

Allebach said that $150 was for a maximum of 15 years, but they also could raise that maximum number of years and/or raise the $150 to maybe $200.

He also mentioned that the town hasn’t increased the council wages in a while so there might be some justification in raising those as the council’s responsibilities are the same but there’s more of it.

Hawn reiterated that he’d like to see the longevity changed.

Hawn also asked to increase the emergency pay/court overtime from $15,000 in 2023 to $20,000 in 2024; and clothing allowance from $5,000 to $7,000 so each of the seven officers will have $1,000 for uniforms. Adding in Hawks, the request for clothing went up to $8,000, though 80% of his clothing allowance may be reimbursed.

Supplies was proposed at $12,000 for 2024, with training kept at $5,000. Reserve officers fund was kept at $5,000, while vehicle repairs was increased by $2,000 to $12,000.

“Vehicle repairs — holy cow — that is just nothing but going up,” Hawn said. “It’s killing us this year. My budget this year is almost depleted — not completely depleted, but it’s getting close.”

He kept computer maintenance the same for 2024 as 2023 at $12,000.

The Law Enforcement Continuing Education fund was increased from $5,000 to $10,000.

Hawn also asked to have $57,500 in 2024 for the purchase of a new squad car, along with the lights and other add-ons. He was told from a car dealer that usually has the state bids for police cars that they could anticipate a $5,000 increase on the vehicles in 2024.

At the end of the meeting, Allebach told the committee that the other types of things to think about would be contractual services and those — professional and legal services — are already expected to increase for next year.

The town council, at their last meeting, approved to ask the trash services provider for a six-month extension as the current contract expires Oct. 31. Allebach said they asked and was told by Waste Management that they didn’t think they wanted to do that as their least amount would be for two years. Allebach said he’s going to ask for a compromise of a year, but regardless there won’t be an increase in prices.