Commissioners opt not to contribute to WCIEDD in 2019

Even as they voted to increase their annual contribution to local economic development efforts, the Putnam County Commissioners have opted not to contribute to the regional economic development district to which it belongs.

In approving the 2019 Economic Development Income Tax (EDIT) plan during their meeting Monday, the commissioners agreed to send no money to the West Central Indiana Economic Development District.

In at $1.057 million plan, the biggest disagreement between commissioners ultimately came down to less than $20,000.

While Commissioner Don Walton proposed that West Central Indiana Economic Development District receive $16,572 — the district’s request amount — fellow commissioners Rick Woodall and Dave Berry proposed giving no money to West Central.

Walton, the commissioners’ liaison to West Central, briefly made the case that West Central does good things for its entire six-county region, which includes Vigo, Sullivan, Clay, Parke, Vermillion and Putnam counties, his colleagues did not agree.

“We don’t feel like we’re getting the bang for our buck,” Berry said.

Problems with West Central began to come to a head early last summer when the commissioners discovered that West Central’s annual bill was $15,105, up from the $10,700 the commissioners had agreed to pay from the 2018 EDIT plan.

The commissioners ultimately voted not to pay the extra money.

WCIEDD officials later attended several commissioners meetings as a way to reach out to the Putnam County officials. During these trips, they explained a bit about what they saw West Central doing for Putnam County, including the explanation that the added payment in 2018 was for traffic counts that could assist the county as it applies for state grants for roads.

Ultimately, it may have been too little, too late.

“I’ve been here four years and this is the first time someone has come to explain what West Central does,” Woodall said during that first meeting in July.

Both Greencastle-Putnam County Economic Development Director Kristin Clary and her predecessor, Greencastle Mayor Bill Dory, were in the crowd on Monday morning. Neither of the economic development professionals voiced any concern over what the commissioners were about to do.

“I feel like the commissioners did their due diligence and their research and made an informed, intelligent decision,” Clary told the Banner Graphic. “I think Dave as been a great leader on that board and Rick is doing a great job. I think they’ve probably put in the time to do the research.”

Clary also noted during the meeting that Putnam County remains a part of the district regardless of whether it pays the money or not.

“They (West Central) still have to cover us, whether we pay our dues or not,” Clary said.

Although he had earlier voiced his support for West Central, Walton ultimately joined the unanimous vote in approving the EDIT plan.

One other notable change was an increase to the Development Center from $45,000 in 2018 to $50,000 in 2019. The city made an identical increase in approving its own EDIT plan last month.

“We were very grateful that they gave us a bit of additional funding to match what the city did,” Clary said. “I also applaud them for raising the Rural Transit budget because we have been doing some work with Rural Transit and that service is essential in our community.”

The county doubled its contribution to Rural Transit from $5,000 to $10,000.

Another small increase came in the contribution to People Pathways, which increased from $9,000 to $11,000.

Besides West Central, much of the discussion centered on what to do with the money that formerly went to the jail bond. The number had been $456,000 until 2018, when it dropped to $230,000.

The three commissioners came with different ideas of where much of the money should go, divided between the courthouse annex project, the Putnam County Highway Department and the EDIT Warchest.

Walton proposed putting $393,336.75 to the highway, noting the need for Putnam County roads.

Berry, on the other hand, wanted to put $654,000 into the annex fund.

“The reason my number is so huge on the annex is because I want to capitalize on the $456,000 we used to be putting into the jail,” Berry said. “I’d like to utilize that.”

Woodall, on the other hand, proposed $659,908.75 for the Warchest.

“Yes, when we do build an annex and I’d like to pay cash. But, that said, putting $600,000 in an annex fund and it is locked in,” Woodall said, also noting that Walton is right about the roads needing money.

“My thought is, by putting $659,000 into the warchest, that money can be used either-or,” Woodall said.

As a way to meet in the middle, Woodall made the motion for approval with $400,000 for the annex, which at least comes close to the old number for the jail bond.

This left $509,908.75 for the Warchest, with money available for the highway on an as-needed basis.

The 2019 EDIT plan ultimate included the following line items:

a. Jail Bond: $0

b. West Central Economic Development: $0

c. Greencastle/Putnam County Economic Development: $50,000

d. Putnam County Senior Center: $15,000

e. Edgelea Project Annual Payment: $31,291.25

f. Edgelea Debt Contingency: $10,000

g. Rural Transit: $10,000

h. Beyond Homeless: $10,000

i. Putnam County Emergency Food Pantry: $10,000

j. People Pathways: $11,000

k. Courthouse Annex Project: $400,000

l. Warchest: $509,908.75

Total: $1,057,200