Thurmont sets budget development schedule

Sarah Harrington

(3/28) The Thurmont Town Council announced that they will be holding a series of workshops to solicit input for the town’s 2017 budget. Mayor Kinnaird reported that some of the town leaders have already met with Department heads to discuss budget requests before making their formal requests to the Mayor and town commissioners at workshops scheduled in April.

The first workshop, scheduled for April 12, will discuss the budget for the Streets and Parks Department and the Electric Company. On April 19th, the town will hold a budget workshop for the Thurmont Police Department and the Water Company. On April 26th, a workshop will be held to discuss the town’s Wastewater Department budget.

The purpose of the workshops is to allow for the Town Council to hear directly from all the departments regarding their budget requests for 2017. All workshops will begin at 7 p.m. and will be open to the public. The workshops will be held at Thurmont’s town hall located at 615 East Main Street.

Following the workshops, the individual Department budget requests will be compiled into a preliminary fiscal 2017 town budget which will then be presented to the town commissioners at the May 10th town council meeting. The goal is to reach a final consensus and adoption of the final town budget by June 7th.

A public hearing will be held on May 24th to discuss funding for the proposed 2017 budget. The purpose of the meeting will be to discuss the revenue the town can expect based upon the constant yield tax rate. The meeting will cover the proposed 2017 budget or if additional revenue needs to be raised by increasing tax rates, or conversely, where cuts needs to be made in the proposed budget to keep within current revenue projections.

Last year’s budget for the town’s General fund, which includes the Streets and Parks Department, was $4,542,745. The Town’s Electric Company budget was $7,387,24. The Thurmont Police Department’s budget for last year was $1,223,310. The Water Department’s budget was $1,271,656, and the Wastewater Department’s budget was $2,282,492. The total Thurmont budget for last year was $15,484,139. You may view the complete FY16 adopted budget on the town’s website www.thurmont.com. Once accessed click on the Finance Tab.