LaGrange County Council Update
by Jac Price
The LaGrange County Council met
in regular session on Monday February 13, 2012. The first business to be
presented, was a request from County
Health Director Alf Garcia for an appropriation of the Tobacco Settlement
Fund Grant for 2012. The grant is to
be used for printing, advertising and
billboards to inform the public on the
Health Department vaccine programs
for all citizens, but primarily for the
Amish community. The council gave
their approval for the Auditor to advertise for the additional appropriation.
Executive Director Keith Gillenwater reported to the council the
activities of the past two years of
the Economic Development Corporation and the use of the $250,000
for incentives. There have been 9
projects which created 624 new jobs,
874 retained jobs. These projects also
created $13,308,343 on new investment and caused the county to gener-
ate $25,496,000 in new payroll. These
new payroll dollars also generated
additional CAGIT and CEDIT dollars
for LaGrange County. This presentation reflected what had been accomplished with $220,000 of the original
grant. Mr. Gillenwater had earlier met
with the EDIT Committee in order
to request the replenishment of the
fund. The committee recommended
to the council that there be a grant to
LaGrange County Economic Development Corporation in the amount of
$250,000.00. After discussion and
question of Mr. Gillenwater, the council approved the recommendation.
County Commissioner George
Bachman reported that during the
past week the county has received
the payment for the Personal Property and Real Estate Taxes for Splash
America Water Park in Shipshewana.
The amount received was in payment
of all taxes, interest, and penalties in
We are giving
$100 a Day
to some lucky customers,
just for using your debit card.
While other banks have been spending a lot of
time considering the new fees they may charge
their customers, we are looking for ways to
reward our customers for their business. FSB
will give $100 away every day from December 1st,
2011 through March 31st, 2012. Plus, each month
we will draw two names to win $500 and donate
another $500 to the local charity of their choice.
www.GoFSB.com
888.492.7111
*Rules and restrictions apply. Please stop in any FSB office for complete rules
and restrictions. FSB employees, spouses and directors are not eligible.
pg 32 · The Hometown Treasure · Mar. ‘12
the amount of $933,000. Over the next
few weeks, there will be a distribution
to Shipshewana, Westview Schools and
other taxing units. Mr. Bachman also
reported that the paper work is moving
ahead to transfer operation of the LaGrange County Animal Shelter to ARK
Animal Rescue. We hope that this can
be accomplished by March.
It was reported that those who
went to the Association of Indiana
Counties Legislative Day in February had an opportunity to meet and
speak with our local House and Senate
members on matters of interest to the
County Council. The issue of HB 1117
and 1125 dealing with changes to Utility Districts rules and regulations, need
to be amended to deal with the issue
of projects that are already started but
not finalized. In the case of LaGrange
County, there is the possibility that
$700,000, in already committed funds,
could become the responsibility of the
taxpayers. We also spoke with the legislatures about the effects and our support of the E-911 legislation. Presently
all land lines are charged $2.20 per
month in LaGrange County, cell phones
50¢ per month and prepaid phones do
not get charged. The House Bill would
establish 75¢ per phone fee, while
the Senate Bill would establish $1 per
phone for all types of service. The fact
that there is a continuing decline in
land lines and this should be a fairer
way of supporting the 911 system.
As always, we will try to be good
stewards of your tax dollars.