Sarah Harrington
(6/19) The Mayor and Commissioners continued their 2016 budget discussion at the May 26th town meeting. Mayor Kinnaird presented the final figures for the 2014 Fiscal year budget. The final figures showed the revenue for sewer was up to $672,492, water was up to $279,156, electric was at $316,633 while the general fund was at $673,704. Kinnaird said the final numbers in
the 2014 budget were positive.
There were several reconcile funds that needed to be attended to before the final touches could be done to the proposed budget for 2016. As of June 30, 2014 the sewer fund owed the general fund $682,730, the water fund owed $22,597 to the general fund, and the general fund owed electric $241,613. In order to pay these expenses Kinnaird proposed making a two year payment
plan and splitting the payments 75/25.
The board of commissioners agreed upon the split. The Mayor approved $10,000 towards the Main street renovation project, and $25,000 was added to be split between special activities such as Halloween in the Park and Concerts in the Park. Several Escrow items that were originally scrapped from the budget were reinstated as well. A few of these items include a new analog
encoder system to record the town meetings, new in-car radios for police, and a new scanning system for the town office. The additions the town will be including will increase the capital improvements fund by $19,000 while simultaneously decreasing the Escrow fund by the same amount.
The board approved a tax rate of .3017 for every $100. This new approved rate differs from the previous year’s rate but only slightly. The tax rate is lower than the 2015 rate. The tax rate for the 2015 Fiscal year was .3103 per every $100. The new tax rate for 2016 was approved unanimously by the board. Thurmont’s Chief Administrative officer, Jim Humerick, says that the
new tax rate is representative of the upcoming year. Humerick also added that this tax rate will generate the same amount of revenue as it did the past year.
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