The Portage Chamber of Commerce hosted their monthly luncheon at Woodland Park, offering their popular "30 Seconds of Fame" to any businesses willing to share, as well as providing an invaluable speaking session with three Porter County elected officials. Bob Wichlinski, Auditor, Jon Snyder, Assessor, and Mike Bucko, treasurer, spoke on the tax situation of Porter County and how it's specifically effecting Portage.
"We're just here to tell you about taxes, and how they're going to impact you," said Mike Bucko.
He emphasized the importance of the relationship between the three of them, that "If we don't have a cohesiveness or some kind of collaborative effort between the three offices that we have, it doesn't work well, but I can tell you, that it has worked amazingly well, and there is a clear effort that shows that."
Bob Wichlinski explained, that the three of them got together and determined, "Let's take a business approach, apply that to government, and see if that works."
The evidence of pursuing that goal is more than just a pipe-dream, and despite opposition, the numbers speak for themselves.
"We had to find 16 objectives, and with the 16 objectives we determined we would need approximately half a million dollars to be able to accomplish," said Mr. Wichlinski,"at 120 days in, I can, with pleasure and pride, report that of the 16 objectives, 6 of them are complete already, 7 of them are 75% or better, and 3 are set for completion this fall. We were given half a million dollars. We've utilized 200,000 of the 500,000 provided, and today we have returned to you, the caucus of the county, over 1.1 million dollars,. This can be done. We've proven it can be done."
Bob spoke highly of Jon Snyder, claiming extreme success on behalf of the county assessor, whose hails from the area.
"Thanks for having us, Terry and Portage Chamber," Jon said, "It's always good to come back to my hometown, Portage."
Mr. Snyder explained the reality that, while we are going through tough times, there is a proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. We can and will experience growth and financial stability in Portage if there is proper communication and the execution of modest fiscal application.
They had high hopes for what can be accomplished in Portage and Porter County as a whole. They opened up for questions at the end, happy to answer any concerns or queries about the nature of the evolution of taxes in Portage.
"I compliment Bob, Mike and Jon for being here," said Terry Hufford, executive director of the Portage Chamber of Commerce, "and I really appreciate your questions, because even the Chamber works daily with property taxes and assessment."
He continued, thanking the three officials, "It's a real pleasure as a chamber director to have three professionals call and say 'Can we come to your backyard?' So, thank you very very much, and we appreciate what the three of you are doing."
It was an amazing opportunity to see what the Chamber of Commerce is accomplishing in Portage by establishing connections with those who are involved in the day-to-day progression of our great county. PortageLife.com is proud to be a partner of the chamber, and we thank Terry Hufford for all he does and for his commitment to bringing financial stability and success to Portage!