The Temporary Loan Tax Anticipation Warrant
By Dave Reddick
On March 8, 2010, Madison Township officials borrowed $808,868 from Regions Bank with a promise to repay the money by December 31, 2010. The loan is called a Temporary Loan Tax Anticipation Warrant. Politicial entities like Madison Township will take out these loans in order to have money on hand while they await their next property tax disbursement check from the county. These checks from the county come twice a year -- in June and December. So, what's the issue here?
Well, on December 30, 2009, Madison Township received a tax check from the county for $785,654.68. In theory, the money is supposed to cover township expenditures until June 2010, when the second property tax check was due from the county. Yet, a mere 11 weeks later, the township took out the Regions loan. Combined with its December tax disbursement, that's a total of $1,594,522.68 in the first three months of this year.
Why did the township need all this money? That's a good question and one the Trustee, the Advisory Board and their accountant were reluctant to answer at the public hearing on June 25. The accountant said sometimes an initial expenditure that occurs in one year will spread into a second year, and cause a township to use money earmarked for the second year to pay the first-year expense. That seems like a plausible explanation until you realize just how much Madison Township officials spent in 2009. The township's initial funding request was for $3,542,703, but the state's Department of Local Government Financing (DGLF), which reviews funding requests, said Madison Township shuld only spend $2,763,475. This recommendation is based on projections of how much potential tax revenue is available. So, what did the Trustee and Advisory Board do? They spent $6,104,921 in 2009. That's why the extra money was needed. The township has a serious cash flow problem.
How could this have happened? Simple. The DLGF has no authority to stop a township from overspending, so our Madison Township officials just went on a spending binge.
Don't allow this to happen again this November. Vote the current Trustee and Adivsory Board President out of office!
Hold Local Government Officials Accountable
By Susan Johnson
The definition of the word "remonstrate" is to say or plead in protest or opposition; to urge strong reasons against any course or action. More than 400 concerned citizens in Madison Township have been involved and remonstrated against the continued overspending and borrowing by our current Trustee, Jim Bolin, and our current Advisory Board members, Kelly Alcala, Scott McDonough and Larry Campbell. They are spending $1 million more than our township's total tax revenue of $2.3 million. They annually obtain half million dollar emergency loans and almost a million dollar tan anticipation loans to cover their oversspending, most of which is in the firefighting fund. These loans are paid for with a substantial increase in our property taxes year after year.
It is time to tell them that enough is enough. They are obligated to provide fire service and stay within tax revenues without borrowing money. We must hold our local government officials accountable to be good stewards of our tax dollars. Regardless of what Mr. Bolin has recently stated about the remonstrators; this is what Indiana state law provides citizens with to hold our township officials accountable. Our township officials have not been responsible with our tax dollars and in the upcoming November election, we can change that. Educate yourself on the candidates so you can be an informed voter. Let's bring integrity and responsible spending to Madison Township.
