Delphi mayor trims budget by thousands

The city of Delphi found a way to survive financially with less money from state government.

The state reduced the amount of revenue cities like Delphi would receive.

So, Mayor Randy Strasser got creative.

Trash is still hauled out of of Delphi, but it's not with the city truck anymore. The service is contracted out. That's just one of the services Mayor Randy Strasser changed to save a buck or two.

"We moved the responsibility of the mowing of the cemeteries that had been contracted out, we moved those responsibilities to the Parks Department," Strasser said.

The city will get $480,000 less from the state after the change in the property tax cap funding formula, according to the mayor. So, Strasser sliced the budget by $231,000 from 2008 and 2009. He trimmed the budget between 2009 and 2010 by $80,000, making an estimated total of $308,686 reduced in the three year period.

"Some of the mowing of the well fields and things like that that the Water Department was doing, we've moved those over to the Parks Department too," said Strasser.

11 jobs were lost. Two were within the police department. But Chief Justin Darling said eliminating the positions makes the community run more efficiently.

"All of our dispatching services are done through the Carroll County Sheriff's Department.  Originally, 911 calls would ring into the sheriff's department dispatch, then those calls would have to be transferred to our dispatch," Darling said.

This saves time too, according to Darling.

"When 911 calls come in they ring to the sheriff's department dispatch and immediately they dispatch our officers after receiving those calls," said Darling.

Mayor Strasser said another change to the budget is the addition of a fire territory. This is something that's been in the works for more than 70 years with three local townships. He said the change will allow the fire board more control.

Despite making the necessary budget cut, Strasser said he is more concerned about revenue.

"We can always get to the point where we reduce our expenses, but we have no control whatsoever over the revenue and the way the economy is right now," Strasser said.

Strasser said it will take about two years before the full impact of the budget cuts is seen.