[Southsider2k12]

The bolded line in the article really bugs me. The revenues from Blue Chip have been crashing harder than pretty much anyone has expected, and yet they are proud that they didn't cut anything from the municipal budget? Good grief.

http://thenewsdispatch.com/main.asp?Sectio...amp;TM=46499.27

2007 City Budget Approved

Jason Miller
The News-Dispatch

MICHIGAN CITY - City employees can breathe a sigh of relief.

With just under six weeks remaining in the calendar year, the state of Indiana this week approved the Michigan City municipal budget.

The 2007 budget.

"There were no cuts to any line item," Michigan City Controller John Schaefer said at Monday's meeting of the Board of Public Works and Safety. "Of course we don't have the money yet. I just hope nothing comes out of the blue and throws it all off."

Thanks to the state's now well-publicized property tax debacle, most municipalities have been operating all year on a ghost budget.

Estimates on revenues received from the state have dictated what municipalities have done over the past year, despite the fact that those revenues have yet to come in.

The city's $49 million 2007 budget included an estimate of nearly $19.5 million from property tax payments. Because of re-assessment and other issues, the state has yet to release those dollars, despite a self-imposed deadline for certified rates and tax levies of mid-February, Schaefer said.

Schaefer each year estimates additional funds into the budget to deal with possible issues with what he estimates for tax revenues, but that money is hardly used and, like it was in the 2007 budget, is usually voided by the state.

"We still have to operate, so we do what we have to do until the state approves it," he said. "We do what have to do and hope we don't have to find something to cut in the last six months of the year."

Contact Jason Miller at jmiller@thenewsdispatch.com.

[Roger Kaputnik]

Well, the first thing to cut is City Hall Staff and perks.

[Dave]

Well, the first thing to cut is City Hall Staff and perks.

Any chance we could start cutting from the top down???

[Southsider2k12]

I just did a little digging back on this budget, and wait until the 2008 debate starts. There are going to be HUGE cuts that no one is talking about, and this is why.

The city estimated $13.06 million in revenue in the 2007 budget. $2.5 million from donations and the same amounts from win and admission taxes.

That is from the budget that Indiana just approved, which includes casino funds of $20.81 million in Casino funds.

In the city's 2008 budget, the city estimated revenue of $13.31 million in riverboat funds, $2.75 million from casino donations, $6.76 million from win taxes and $3.8 million from admission taxes.

This is depending on $26.62 million from the riverboat funds, or about a 30% increase in funding, when we have seen the following drops in total revenue at the Blue Chip year over year since the Four Winds opened in NB, MI.

August -12.7%, down $3.1 million
September -23.0% down $5.5 million
October - 22.0% down $5 million

Without any weighting for total revenues or # of dates within a month, this is an average decrease of 19.2% for each of those three months.

This is not good at all.

[Roger Kaputnik]

In other words, the money from Blue Chump has pretty much enabled the City gov't to ignore true development by financially masking the problem of the diminished tax base and income sources for residents.

[JHeath]

In other words, the money from Blue Chump has pretty much enabled the City gov't to ignore true development by financially masking the problem of the diminished tax base and income sources for residents.

Well said, Roger.