Mayor Dory praises city as ‘always a great place to live’

Thursday, March 2, 2017
Banner Graphic/JARED JERNAGAN Emphasizing that Greencastle always has been a great place to live, Mayor Bill Dory delivers the State of the City address to the Greencastle Rotary Club Wednesday at The Inn at DePauw.

Speaking on the heels of President Donald Trump’s first address to Congress, Greencastle Mayor Bill Dory warned his audience at the Rotary Club meeting Wednesday that his speech might not garner the attention or controversy of the night before.

Still, Dory used his State of the City address to sing the city’s praises.

“Our president talked about ‘making America great again,’” Dory said. “I’m not going to go that route because we think Greencastle has always been a great place to live.”

Speaking in front of his predecessor Sue Murray, also a Rotary member, Dory said the city finished 2016 in the black, which has been a common occurrence in Greencastle for many years.

Dory attributed this to “careful spending by our department heads,” as well as pointing out that a new pot of money has thus far gone untouched by the city.

Putnam County implemented a Public Safety Local Option Income Tax that took effect in 2016. The portion of this money that went to the city — intended for police, fire and other emergency services — has not been spent yet. The idea is to have a year’s worth in reserve before finding ways to spend the new source of cash.

Dory said the city began the year with a cash balance of $21.6 million, although much of that money is allocated in some way and not simply cash on hand.

Going department by department, the mayor highlighted some of the city’s accomplishments during 2016 — 6,000 police calls and more than 1,000 fire runs, both modest increases; 2.9 miles of city streets resurfaced; the near completion of handicap ramp and sign replacement programs by the public works department; resurfaced tennis courts at Robe-Ann Park and a new basketball court at Big Walnut Sports Park; a new one-million-gallon storage tank at the water department; upgraded controls and a new building a at the wastewater plant; as well as four new police officers, four new firefighters and even a new chief in John Burgess.

Perhaps the most interesting part of the presentation came near the end when Dory shared the property tax information of his Highfall Avenue residence. With a gross assessed value of $122,500, the property has a net assessed value of $50,375 once homestead exemptions are figured.

At a tax rate of $2.7955 per $100 of assessed value, that brings the tax bill to $1,408.23, an amount shared between the county, the Putnam County Airport, Greencastle Township, the City of Greencastle, Greencastle School Corp. and the Putnam County Public Library.

Intending to show the return of service that residents get for their tax dollars — and perhaps taking a jab at the property state tax caps that hamstring localities — Dory ironically employed the term “whopping” a number of times.

From “a whopping $157,” (about 11 percent of the tax collected) the money the Dorys pay on their home is divided between the County General Fund, County Reassessment, County Cumulative Courthouse, County Cumulative Bridge, County Health Department and County Cumulative Jail.

Of that $1,408.23, $15.47 (1 percent) goes to the airport, $6.85 (0.5 percent) to the township, $611.10 (43 percent) to the city, $599.06 (42 percent) to the school corporation and $19.19 (1.4 percent) to the library.

As the city executive, Dory of course made note of some of the figures in the city budget, with special attention to the relatively small amount spent on police and fire protection.

“That’s a big bargain because I want the fire department to show up,” Dory said. “I want the police to show up if I have a problem.”

Dory finished the portion of his speech off with praise for an entity that’s not even part of city government, noting the value he gets out of $19.19 paid to the Putnam County Public Library.

“Probably the best bargain of all is the county library system where, for less than the cost of a hardbound book, I can have access to all they have to offer,” Dory said.

Looking ahead to the rest of 2017, the mayor named some projects on which the city will be working.

These include the next phase of the sidewalk program, which will expand from repair and replacement to filling some of the gaps in the sidwalk system, making Greencastle a more walkable place.

Dory also cited the addition of Whispering Winds Subdivision on the city’s southeast side. It is Greencastle’s first new housing addition in several years and should help address a shortage of buildable lots in the community.

The Parks and Recreation Department will also be addressing the replacement of the Bob Flanigan Bandshell in Robe-Ann Park, a centerpiece of many city activities in the park.

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