Sarah Harrington
(2/21) At the town meeting on February 3, Mayor Kinnaird and the commissioners received the mid-year budget report. Tracy Schur, the town’s Chief Financial Officer, presented the report at the meeting. Schur presents quarterly budget reports to the mayor and the commissioners, keeping them updated on where the budget stands at different times during the year.
This report given at the meeting covered the data from July 1 to December 31, 2014. The report covered the revenues and expenditures, and the data showed very positive numbers. Jim Humerick, Chief Administrative Officer, commented, "The report was extremely positive." When it comes to revenue, the report showed that the general revenue has already exceeded the halfway
point with two more payments still set to come in. The report also showed that expenditures are right on schedule.
Schur’s report was broken down into different sections to give the mayor and the commissioners a look at how the town’s funds have been dispersed during the year so far. The report covers expenses, water/sewage, and utilities, to name a few. Overall, the report showed what the town had anticipated. According to the report, the town’s general income is ahead of expenses by
$960,050. Mayor Kinnaird comments, "That’s a good thing to be ahead of the ball."
There were only a few surprises in the report. When it came to expenses, Schur reported an issue with the payroll and unemployment taxes. The July, August, and September payroll and unemployment taxes were distributed incorrectly into the general funds instead of the individual funds where they were meant to be distributed. Schur reports that the issue has been fixed and
it will not happen in the future.
There were a few payments that were not indicated in the report due to them not coming in in time to be taken into account, one of them being under interest and savings. The town received $1,166 toward those payments. The debt payment for waste water was also not included in the report; it was not received until February 1, which means it will be included in the next
quarterly report.
As of December 31, the budget numbers were what the mayor and commissioners were anticipating and hoping for. The next report is scheduled to be given in April. This report will cover from July 1 to March 31. The town is scheduled to receive two more payments in April and June that will come from tax payments. The mayor and commissioners were pleased with the numbers they
saw in the report and agreed all the town’s budget seem to be on track.
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