The Lincoln Township Board of Trustees has approved the next township budget.
At a meeting Tuesday, the board heard from Township Manager Ralph Bansen the 2025-2026 spending plan anticipates general fund revenues of about $2.84 million and expenditures of about $3.3 million, reducing the fund balance, or savings, by about $457,000. That’s partly due to some big projects coming up, like the work at Lincoln Township Beach and improvements at the baseball, softball, and soccer fields.
Bansen told us a lot of people say they pay all their taxes to the township, but the township actually only keeps about 15% of the tax it collects.
“We don’t keep a large part of our budget, we keep a small portion of our budget,” Bansen said. “Approximately 15% stays in the township. So like I said, that’s what we work with and that goes to all sorts of different departments and so on that we administer.”
The largest expenditure is on the police department, which takes up 64% of township funds. Next is the fire department, which gets 15%, followed by 5% for roads. The remaining $684,000 is split between parks, elections, assessments, inspections, cemeteries, and various other services.
So, where does the other 85% of township tax money go?
“That goes out to all different places. It goes to the county, schools, wherever it goes. But it doesn’t stay here.”
Other sources of revenue for Lincoln Township, besides taxes, are cable franchise fees, revenue sharing, and permit fees. Bansen said he’s already working to ensure the budgeting process next year is more efficient, transparent, and easier to understand.
