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Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Ind. Courts - "County officials consider City Court subsidy"

Tara Layne, Goshen News staff writer, reports:

Elkhart County officials have not yet reached a decision about whether to help pay for Goshen City Court.

Goshen city officials have said that without the county’s help, the court will have to close.

“We want to have some kind of idea by Dec. 1 or possibly November,” County Commissioner Mike Yoder said this morning regarding the county’s position on the issue.

City officials need to make the decision about the court’s future by the end of the year, but they had hoped to make the decision sooner. The decision to close a city court must be made during a non-election year for the city. 2007 is a city election year.

Yoder said county officials have discussed the options of subsidizing the court or closing it and absorbing the caseload through the county court system. At this point, no option is preferred over any other, he said. “I have heard from quite a few constituents who want to keep the local court,” he said.

According to Goshen Mayor Allan Kauffman, the court had an operational deficit of $65,000 in 2005. With a budget of $431,000 this year, a property tax subsidy of at least $40,000 is expected. Kauffman said recently that while he wants to keep City Court, he is not willing to approve a budget for the court that results in a large property tax subsidy.

The issue is scheduled to be discussed Tuesday night at the Goshen City Council meeting.

See earlier entry from Oct. 2nd headed "Goshen City Court is losing money, and its future is in jeopardy."

Posted by Marcia Oddi on October 18, 2006 05:28 PM
Posted to Indiana Courts