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Planning department budgets for expanded legal services, GIS and two TIF commitments
Summary
Elkhart County planning staff briefed the Council on budget changes for 2026, citing increased legal-services costs, new GIS/consulting expenses and planned Tax Increment Financing (TIF) commitments for Middlebury East wastewater and a State Road 13 interchange.
May Crancer, Planning and Development, presented the department's budget highlights to the Elkhart County Council, saying personnel-service adjustments follow county HR recommendations and that a $20,000 line was added to code-enforcement other professional services to cover recurring weed-and-nuisance work rather than requesting separate appropriations.
The planning commission fund includes two requested staff increases totaling about $12,000 that raise that fund's personnel cost roughly 2 percentage points above what had been projected. Legal services for the department rise materially: the line moved from $82,000 to about $131,000 after the department's board attorney retired and the county switched law firms, a change staff described as necessary to secure experienced land-use counsel.
May Crance…
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