Center Township ups financial assistance for 2024 as claims increase

Tyler Juranovich, Kokomo Tribune, Ind.
·4 min read

Aug. 29—Amidst an increase in those applying for need, Center Township's 2024 proposed budget includes a quarter of million dollars more for assistance than 2023's budget. The township is also upgrading playground equipment at Somers Park and lowering the amount it gives to local nonprofits.

The township Thursday held a public hearing for its 2024 budget where the all-Republican board of Linda Koontz, Debra Rahe and Tom Cleaver Jr. and Democratic Trustee Andrew Durham discussed the township's proposed 2024 budget.

The township's 2024 budget totals $2.8 million. There are no salary increases, though bonuses of $750 per full-time employee and $375 for part-time employees are included in the proposed budget.

Here are the main takeaways:

Township Assistance

The amount budgeted for assistance in 2024 is increasing to about $700,000 from the $500,000 budgeted for 2023.

Durham said the increase is due to the township seeing a significant uptick in those seeking assistance — whether it's for help paying rent, food or utilities — as federal pandemic aid and protections has either ended or dried up and inflation has pushed prices of nearly everything up.

According to Durham, the township is on pace to dole out more than $700,000 in assistance this year. Last year, the township provided $445,863.20 in direct assistance, the highest in at least a decade.

"We just did $83,000 a month in assistance," Durham said. "If we did that every month, we're hitting $1 million (a year). I've looked at all the years I could find in our system, and this (year) will be the highest we've done in assistance that I can find."

The increase in township assistance is in part due to increasing rent and utility prices but also the township seeing more applicants.

Somers Park

For 2024, the township is budgeting $400,000 playground upgrades at Somers Park and another $100,000 for other capital projects.

The township didn't spend the $500,000 it budgeted for upgrades at the park in 2023 as Durham wanted to probe the willingness of the mostly new township board to approve a possible multi-million dollar upgrade to the park.

That extensive upgrade, which could've possibly included lighting, a walking path, parking, a restroom and more, is not going to happen, at least not anytime soon, as the board balked earlier this year at the idea of issuing debt to pay for the park overhaul.

With the large-scale upgrade out of the picture, Durham said he's going ahead with upgrading the park's playground equipment and adding a ninja course. There are also plans to fix the sloping sidewalk on the south side of Jefferson Street

The township took over ownership of Somers Park, 1000 E. Jefferson St., from the city of Kokomo in early 2021.

Community Service Contracts

In addition to direct financial assistance, one of the township's other large yearly expenditures is its community service contracts with local nonprofits.

The "contracts" are essentially a grant to an organization approved by the trustee to go toward programs that township residents can benefit from and are not supposed to go toward general operational costs. Past recipients include Bona Vista, The Literacy Coalition, Family Service Association of Howard County, Coordinated Assistance Ministries, Carver Community Center and more.

New rules, less money overall and a cap on how much one organization can receive is being instituted for 2024.

For next year, the township's proposed budget has $260,000 allocated for community service contracts. That's a decrease from $300,000 budgeted for 2023 and a decrease from 2022 when the township spent $360,000. Community service contracts have amounted to as high as $450,000 annually in years past.

In addition, Durham has capped the amount one organization can receive a year to $50,000. He's also started requiring recipients to provide the township with a quarterly financial report before receiving their money from the township.

All such changes are in the vein of maintaining positive relationships with local nonprofits but also increasing accountability for taxpayer money and saving the township money it may need for direct financial assistance.

"We're not United Way," Durham said. "I have to focus on the township, and I gotta be able to help (nonprofits). The amounts we've had (in the past) were too high. I knew that several years before becoming trustee."

Tyler Juranovich can be reached at 765-454-8577, by email at tyler.juranovich@kokomotribune.com or on Twitter at @tylerjuranovich.