Chesterton town officials will have to consider potential cuts and raising fees, including charging a wheel tax, in future years to close the funding gap created by Senate Enrolled Act 1, Town Clerk-Treasurer Courtney Udvare said.
Udvare presented the town’s budget for 2026 before Monday’s Town Council meeting. Council gave the budget a first reading with a final vote scheduled for its next meeting on Oct. 27.
The town appears to be in good shape for 2026 with a total budget of $23,244,184, Udvare said. The general fund, which finances the police and fire departments that have the most employees, will be $9,000,120.
Udvare said that the property tax reforms enacted with Senate Enrolled Act 1 make it more difficult for the town to meet rising future expenses.
“Next year will be much harder,” Udvare said.
As a result, Udvare said she would like all of the department heads to make a list of what items could be cut.
“I’d rather be prepared for the worst,” Udvare said, noting she hopes that it won’t happen.
Udvare also suggested that the town would have to consider raising fees.
Chesterton is already contemplating increases in its building fees.
Later during the Town Council meeting, Town Engineer Mark O’Dell said Chesterton has much lower fees than neighboring communities.
O’Dell noted that for a $400,000 house, the average fees the town charges is $900. Comparatively, Portage charges $2,000 and Crown Point levies $3,000 in fees.
The most unpopular suggestion was for a wheel tax, which would be added to a resident’s annual vehicle registration fee. The tax could only be used for roads.
“It’s not something that’s going to go over in this town. You’re going to have an uphill climb,” said Councilman James Ton, R-1st.
Assistant Street Superintendent Dan Moy and Street Superintendent John Schnadenberg noted that Portage and Valparaiso both charge the maximum of $25.
Udvare said that the decision wouldn’t have to be made until September 2026, for the tax to be collected starting in 2027.
Schadenberg said he would recommend the town do something with the wheel tax by next year because the town wouldn’t see revenues until 2028.
Senate Enrolled Act 1 is forcing communities “to make up the difference” financially, Schnadeberg said. The town would need to explain the reasons why it had to impose the wheel tax.
Udvare said that other potential ways to raise revenue would be to charge a licensing fee for golf carts.
In other business, the council received a progress report on the updating of the town’s comprehensive plan from Rachel Cardis from American Structurepoint.
Chesterton’s current comprehensive plan, which guides land use decisions, was made in 2010.
Cardis said during the first phase of the comprehensive plan update, there was good participation in the public survey with 1,189 participants.
Chesterton is experiencing incremental population growth. There are 14,519 residents now, and that number is projected to grow to 19,358 by 2050, Cardis said.
In coming months, Cardis said they will meet with a steering committee of locals and review economic and demographic data, and determine how it aligns with what the public wants.
The final phase will present three different map scenarios, which will be presented on the town website.
The council also heard from Police Chief Tim Richardson, who said Officer Nolan Mancera returned to work Monday for the first time since he was shot on June 18 during an exchange of gunfire with a suspect on Gateway Boulevard in front of the Hilton Garden Inn.
The Porter County Prosecutor’s office found that Mancera and Lt. David Virijevich were justified in shooting Joseph Gerber, 45, who fired first and wounded Mancera. Gerber died when he shot himself in the head.
“In my eyes, they are heroes,” Richardson said of his two officers. “They saved a lot of lives that day.”
Council also approved setting rates for its two public charging stations located on Broadway downtown, which had been free. The town will now charge 40 cents per kilowatt hour for active charging and $5 per hour for inactive charging.
Jim Woods is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.