Huntingburg Council discusses 2025 budget

In a short meeting held Tuesday afternoon, the Huntingburg Common Council approved introducing the 2025 Civil Budget Ordinance 2024-19.

The proposed tax rate for 2025 is expected to be $0.9494 per $100 of assessed value, slightly lower than last year’s rate of $0.95 per $100. The total proposed budget for 2025 is $13,624,951. The 2024 budget was $11,823,942.

A public hearing has already been held, and no objections were raised.

The meeting for adopting the ordinance will be at the next Huntingburg Common Council meeting on October 22 at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall.

Additional actions

• The council authorized Water Superintendent Jerry Austin to contract with Commonwealth Engineering to help track down a problem with two water plant filters for $13,673. Austin explained that despite recent upgrades to the water treatment facility completed in 2019, two of the plant’s eight filters have been leaking. He said that in working with the company that installed the filters, the manufacturer of the filters, and the water department’s efforts, they have not been able to track down the issue with the filters and where the leaked water is going. They have not been using those two filters due to the leakage. They have been operating with six filters, which are able to handle the water plant’s load, but not running the full eight could become problematic during high-capacity usage times.

• The council approved introducing a spending plan for $472,000 of the remaining America Rescue Plan Act money for the new Senior Center. The money has to be spent or dedicated to a project before the end of the year. The ordinance will have a public hearing at the October 22nd council meeting before final approval.

You can watch the nearly 20-minute meeting on YouTube here.