$34 Million Budget Concerns Board

(posted Aug 13)

Discussions about how to handle the proposed $34 million budget for Wayne Township are far from over. The proposed 2008 budget raised concerns from Wayne Township Board members at the August 9 meeting.

Board member Lisa Bentley did not want township trustee David Baird to hire a part-time person to assist with poor relief even though Baird said they are pushing nearly 10,000 cases as of date.

Bentley expressed that at a time when the board is asked to make budget cuts she did not feel hiring new personnel was appropriate. The current township employees are up for a 4 percent raise. The township trustee is expected to make $81,000 in 2008. This does not include benefits.

Bentley also requested the proposed budget show the actual number of increase or decrease per line item instead of putting a plus or minus sign next to the column. Last year's budget was $23,630,132.

According Lynn McWhirter of the trustee's office, the $34 million is an estimate because the fire contract to pay firefighters is still in negotiations with the union. She said the estimate was needed in order to make the deadline to advertise the budget process. She said the firefighter's contract may not be completed until December. She said the challenge with developing the budget is that the tax rate and assessed valuation are still unknown

Board member Jim Mann said he hoped that the board would be able to transfer money from the fire protection fund to the rainy day fund to avoid raising taxes to cover the budget. Mann favors supporting the firefighters, saying they earn their pay but he is concerned about other increases in the fire budget. The next meeting is September 6 at 6 p.m.