Emmitsburg 2017 Budget in the works

Danielle Ryan

The Emmitsburg Board of Commissioners received the proposed 2016 budget at their May 16 special budget meeting, and will be composing a list of questions regarding the submission to be addressed by town staff before the June 6 meeting.

Mayor Donald N. Briggs presented the proposed 2016 budget to the board of commissioners, stating that the proposal represents a balanced budget with no tax increases, and a proposal of an additional $20,000 to be allocated toward the Town square project. Cole Tabler, the Town’s Financial Officer was present to review the budget with the Council.

The general fund has increased approximately 4 percent in revenues from last year, roughly $60,000. This increase is due to the Town’s amount of state revenue for highway use that was received, which was presented at this meeting.

The real estate tax revenue is approximately the same as last year, 0.36 cents per $100 assessed, so no tax increase is seen, as stated by Mayor Briggs. However, there is a state revenue increase seen, which is due to the one-time grant from the state highway fund for the state highway use tax. This increase is the only significant change seen in the 2017 revenue total. The total revenues seen for this year are approximately $1.7 million, which is an increase from last year’s revenue.

Tabler was pleased to announce that the Workman’s Comp rate and unemployment are both down meaning the employee turnover and injuries seen have decreased significantly.

The proposed budget also includes a shift in salaries and benefits between different departments. This can be explained as the Town’s prediction of allocation of time spent on different projects within the departments, and the need to distribute the pay roll appropriately.

In regards to the Water/Sewer budget, decreases in expenses are seen in the Water Department, and increases in expenses are seen in the Sewer Department, both in comparison to last year’s budget. The increases seen in the Water Department have been attributed to the depreciation of the new waste water treatment plant, and an increase in the electric required to operate the new system.

The board took no formal action at the meeting on the budget proposal, which would be faced with approval in June.