CARRIER MILLS— The Village of Carrier Mills received a mixed report of good and bad news when it came to their annual budget during their August 12 meeting.
Despite some gloom forecast by a Botsch and Associates representative known only as Mr. Armstrong (because he left the meeting so fast afterward nobody caught his first name), from the firm that conducted the audit, Mayor Louis Shaw appeared confident village finances are sound.
Mr. Armstrong said a primary concern was a net decrease in the general fund that was down by roughly $40,000.
“You can do the math, and it doesn’t work very well for very many years,” Armstrong said, continuing that if the board held its current trend of decrease, the village would find itself in financial trouble.
After listing more losses, Armstrong said a large portion of the village’s outflow of cash and assets were towards bond the village was paying.
“Something may be done to reduce those bills,” Armstrong said.
That’s about the time Mayor Shaw interrupted saying, “We are quite probably already in the process of refinancing those bonds.”
Armstrong suggested the village may want to look at adjusting their budget at year’s end.
“When we help people put a budget together, we usually budget pretty liberally,” he added.
Mayor Shaw told Armstrong that the village budgets “very conservatively,” citing that if a budget is done liberally, there can be a tendency to say “oh, well, it’s within budget,” causing the whole budget to be spent.
In the wake of the financial gloom there were a few notable positives, including motor fuel taxes bringing in more than the village spent at the end of the year and the village finishing the year with enough funding to support itself.
New plow truck needed
The board then turned its attention to the need of a new plow truck rather than repairing the truck that has been used by the village for more than a few years.
The old truck had been estimated to cost $3,400 to repair, and that is only to keep it functional, and does not include cost of new tires or blade, which will need repair.
The new truck will cost the village $40,566, which also includes a new blade.
The board found the new-truck option to be the more favorable, given that the old truck is costing thousands each year in repairs, and is in constant breakdown status.
The old truck was over 15 years old, the bed of the truck was actually from a much larger model truck but fitted to work on this truck, and the blade was over 30 years old.
With all of those factors in mind, the board voted in favor of purchasing the new truck, and the vote passed.
To join NFIP or not
Mayor Shaw announced that it had come time for the village to make a decision regarding the Flood Plain Ordinance.
Shaw’s concern was that either way, the village would have to sacrifice something.
If the village joined the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), they would be forced to drastically restrict any construction within the flood plain area.
On the flip side, if the village did not pass the Flood Plain Ordinance and join NFIP, the village would be made ineligible for any flood insurance, and any property owners who currently have flood insurance would lose it.
“It’s bad for the community either way,” Shaw said. “It’s bad if we pass it, it’s bad if we don’t pass it.”
The board discussed the best course of action on the matter, and determined that, since the issue directly and immediately impacted the citizens of the community, a public hearing would be the best course of action.
That public hearing was set to be held September 9.