In 2013, the Village of Cassopolis held less than $500 thousand available cash in its general fund. Shortly after, there was a stop to all spending to determine where money was being spent and how to obtain a better financial position. With new management in 2015, every single contract held with the Village was reviewed. Some were cancelled, some were renewed with different companies who could provide us better cost, and some companies were tasked with providing a better service for what we were paying. Through conscientious budgeting and learning how to do more with less, we were able to more than double the amount of available cash in 6 years!
These changes provided us the opportunity to have match dollars for grants, along with the fund balance in multiple funds to be able to contribute to capital projects. On February 28, 2020 the Village of Cassopolis received bond funding to begin the Imagine Cass transformation projects.
As we have always believed, if you invest in yourself, others will invest in you. New investment from businesses, new ideas, and policy changes were able to generate new general fund revenue on an annual basis.
The SMART Park, owned by Midwest Energy & Communications, adds $15 million dollars of investment into the village through the infrastructure build out of the 400-acre park annexed in 2021. This spending includes a new water tower, lift station upgrades, water/sewer line extensions, and roads. All of their investment is projected to quadruple water and sewer revenue once all acres are occupied.
Imagine Cass 