A series of snowstorms in January and February prompted the Portage City Council to replenish the street department’s coffers.
Storms always seemed to come on holidays and weekends, Mayor Bonta said, instead of when snowplow drivers were already on the clock.
The council voted Tuesday to shift $350,000 from local income tax money set aside last year. It puts a big dent in the $1.2 the city had saved.
“It wasn’t money that was appropriated for this year’s budget, so it was kind of like an unofficial savings account,” Bonta said.
When the 2026 budget was adopted, Bonta and Clerk-Treasurer Liz Modesto warned about the tight budget not leaving much wiggle room. “The MVH (motor vehicle highway) budget has been drained by the storms so far,” Bonta said.
Shifting that $350,000 to the street department should be enough to get by until June, when the next property tax revenue arrives.
Modesto recently submitted the city’s annual financial report. The city didn’t carry over as much money as anticipated, but she’s optimistic.
“With the changes in public works, we hope to have a bright future.”
Those changes include amending the contract for unionized laborers to have them all under the public works umbrella, with some assigned to the street department and some to the parks department.
Tracie Marshall, previously the utilities superintendent, becomes the general superintendent of public works.
Councilwoman Gina Giese-Hurst, D-1, whose husband is a city employee, abstained from that vote.
“We’re essentially making history to create a new city department,” Bonta said.
That’s just one of the historic moves to reshape city government this year. The council also voted to eliminate the Port Authority, which has overseen the Sammie L. Maletta Public Marina.
“It sounds dramatic, dissolving a government entity,” Bonta said, but the Port Authority’s duties can be shifted to other entities. The Stormwater Board can deal with clearing snags in Burns Waterway, and the park department can maintain and operate the marina.
Councilman Ferdinand Alvarez, D-At-large, has been the council’s liaison to the Port Authority for several years. “I’ve learned more about fish cleaning stations and more so than I can ever hope to know,” he said.
Alvarez sees a greater financial benefit in having the park department control it. The Park Board can issue bonds, something that was impractical for the Port Authority.
“I think the functionality of the Port Authority will be better maintained by the park department,” Alvarez said. He complimented acting park superintendent Barb Lusco, who has long served as the marina’s harbormaster.
The council also approved a resolution voicing concerns about NIPSCO’s transparency regarding utility bills.
“This is a nonbinding resolution. It doesn’t have the weight of law,” Bonta said.
Among the long string of whereases, the resolution says, “Greater billing transparency – through mandatory, detailed line-item breakdowns of delivery charge components, including separate identification of major tracking mechanisms – would enhance public accountability, empower informed consumer decision-making and advocacy, foster trust in regulated utilities and align with broader statewide efforts to address utility affordability and consumer protection.”
The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission, which sets NIPSCO’s rates, has announced it plans to investigate high utility bills from NIPSCO and other regulated utilities.
“I think this is an excellent idea,” Councilman Bob Parnell, R-2, said of the city’s resolution, with residents’ budgets deeply impacted by sharp bill increases.
“I know people that their NIPSCO bills have gone from $200 a month to $700 or $800,” he said. “I think NIPSCO ought to be ashamed of themselves.”
Councilwoman Penny Ambler, R-4, a NIPSCO employee, abstained from both the discussion and the vote.
Modesto thanked the Lake County Council, which approved the resolution last month, for forwarding it. She pledged to share it with other local governments in Porter and Lake counties and likely elsewhere in Indiana.
Doug Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
