Mike Reuter has provided the income projections for both the town and city of Fishers for a number of years and his dollar predictions have almost always been very accurate. However, state officials have informed Fishers that County Option Income Tax (COIT) money to be distributed to the city in 2018 will be roughly $668,000 less the Mr. Reuter’s projected amount.

City Controller Lisa Bradford told the Fishers City Council Finance Committee Wednesday evening the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance (DLGF) does not provide any details of how they arrived at the numbers provided.  However, Carmel’s distribution of COIT funds is $3.4 million higher than Reuter’s anticipated amount.  Hamilton County government’s COIT share is roughly $1.6 million less than the projection.

The three Finance Committee Members at the meeting were Eric Moeller, John Weingardt and Selina Stoller.  They all three appeared to favor cutting back on the spending for nonprofit groups to bring the budget back into balance.  Without the cut, the city’s General Fund would be in a deficit for 2018.  All also favored pushing back on the DLGF to reveal how these COIT distribution figures were determined.

The committee members also indicated they need to look at 2018 pay raises for elected officials.  No recommendation was made on that in the Wednesday session.

The committee did get some good news.  The accounting firm BKD gave the city high marks in its first audit of the city’s financial books.  Fishers decided to hire a private accounting firm to get a more complete audit.  The State Board of Accounts, due to funding cutbacks, is no longer able to audit the city every year.