How Columbia is run
Columbia spent $24,000 in the year to December 31, 2022, about $22 per resident.
What stands out about how Columbia is run
Read from the town’s budget, meetings and records. The page puts what stands out first.
The typical homeowner pays $1,261 a year
Every local property tax on the home: town, schools and county. About 0.59% of the home’s value, vs 0.74% across Indiana.
Typical yearly bill next door and statewide
The Housing page’s calculator splits a monthly payment into loan, tax and insurance at Columbia’s rate.
Can I afford it? →The median bill homeowners report to the Census survey (bills of $10,000+ are reported as “$10,000+”). The effective rate is that bill ÷ the median home value: a rough guide, not the official tax rate. In a town this small the estimate has a wide margin.
Northeast Dubois County School Corporation
Columbia’s K–12 school district, shared with Hall, Harbison, Marion. It’s its own government, with a budget separate from the town’s.
Of the $13,221 per pupil, $6,803 goes to the classroom (teachers, aides, supplies); the rest to buses, buildings, counselors and administration. Building projects and debt payments aren’t in the per-pupil figure.
Indiana districts overall: 33% local, 56% state, 11% federal.
School year 2023–24. Census Bureau school finance survey.
Who’s in charge in Columbia
Local officials aren’t in the public records we use for Columbia yet. Neighbors can add them.
About $22 per resident a year, or $0.06 a day
The biggest line: paid to other governments, at 96% of spending.
Thank you for being a neighbor
Revenue is well above spending. That usually means Columbia collects property taxes for the school district and county and passes them on, so only its own spending is counted.
One full-time town employee for every 178 residents
On the payroll in March 2022.
By department full-time, plus part-time
Pay is March payroll times twelve, so it’s approximate. Part-timers count half in the bar lengths.
How Columbia’s budget compares
Columbia spends the least per resident of the 4 towns here. Towns that run their own schools spend more. Tap a town to see its Town Hall.
| Town | Spent per resident | Debt per resident | Tax bill |
|---|---|---|---|
| Columbia | $22 | — | $1,261 |
| Hall | $30 | — | $1,691 |
| Lost River | $31 | — | $589 |
| Harbison | $64 | — | $957 |
The town government’s own spending in its newest year (often a Census Bureau estimate). — = no figures.
From town hall to Washington
Every level of government that speaks for Columbia.
- 1Your townTown governmentLocal officials aren’t on record yet.
- 2Indiana HouseState representatives
- 3Indiana SenateState senator
- 4GovernorStatewide
- 5U.S. HouseYour representative in Congress
- 6U.S. SenateBoth represent all of Indiana
Democrat · Republican · other or independent. Tap a name for their official page.
Reach Columbia’s government
Numbers and hours come from neighbors and the town’s own site (the Handbook). A new one goes live once two neighbors confirm it.
Questions about how Columbia is run?
Neighbors who’ve been to the meetings can help.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Budget and staff: U.S. Census Bureau, Census of Governments and Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances and the Annual Survey of Public Employment & Payroll. School district: Census school finance survey. Property tax: Census American Community Survey, 5-year estimates. Representatives: Open States, the Census and congress-legislators.