Greencastle is in good financial shape, according to Mayor

With its annual budget now in the hands of the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance, Greencastle Mayor Lynda Dunbar knows that even with a reduction in funds, her city is in better shape than many others around the state. 

"The city, clerk-treasurers and former mayors that we have had, have always been very mindful of keeping our cash reserves. It is always recommended that a city should have in the bank about 15 to 20 percent of cash reserves to fund their budgets. We have always run a little higher than that just in case there is a rainy day. We have had a little more cash reviews than a lot of communities have. Greencastle is in better shape because we have really strong cash reserves," Dunbar told The Putnam County Post.

The budget for 2026 saw some negative impacts from Senate Bill 1, which cut property taxes in Indiana and meant less money for Greencastle. The budget for 2026 is almost $19 million and is almost $1 million less than that of 2025. 

The budget, which was adopted by council, has an adopted tax rate of $1.6158 per $100 assessed value. 

"The City is getting a million dollars less. People are saying, "oh that is a lot," and it is in comparison to the fact that we normally lose $635 thousand. When everyone gets their credits, and you can get a lot of those and there are a lot of different ones, that is money that will not come into the community to work on roads, sidewalks and snow removal now. This is the first year of that, and I think as it goes along, it will get a little worse. By 2027, they will take away our local income tax. We are paying attention to what the legislature comes up with, and we are following it very closely. I have talked to our representative and senators a lot about the impact it has and what we may not be able to do in the future," Dunbar said. 

Dunbar said it is her hope that citizens will not feel the impact too much. 

"The thing that will probably get cut first is there are so many streets, sidewalks and trails that need to be repaired. I have tried really hard to figure out how we can fix those internally," Dunbar said. 

Dunbar said this past summer the Street Department rented a paver and miller and did patches in the streets.

"It is not pretty, but it improves the quality in the streets so that this winter when it freezes and thaws, it doesn't make a hole bigger. We were able to dig up some of the base, put in some rock and make the road sturdier and making some patchwork to improve streets," she said.

In addition, there was some work done on trails with new pavement, Dunbar said.

"We are trying to do work that in the past we would have had a contractor do and we would have paid all that extra profit and overhead on. Our guys have done a great job, and I am really excited that we were able to make some strides and next year we can improve on that," Dunbar said. 

Dunbar said the city will always continue to be in solid financial shape as both herself and Clerk-Treasurer Mikayla Johnson are both accountants.

"The city has two accountants leading it, and sometimes, accountants don't like to spend money. A lot of scrutiny is there sometimes, and when someone wants to buy something, it has to get past two accountants," she said. 

In addition, as a former business owner, Dunbar admits she looks at Greencastle as a very large business.

"We have to be as efficient as possible. Right now, we are trying to figure out the most efficient way to mow grass in the city. We have so much grass, and we are going to try some ways to mow grass and try to get a mowing team together. A lot of other departments have come together and are working together. We are trying to find ways to work together, save money and use less manpower. I think the Senate bill is trying to make local governments more efficient. We will continue to try new things and if it doesn't work, we will go back to the old way or try something different," Dunbar said.