Lind Council approves budget

After discussing and making slight adjustments to the 2014 budget, the Lind Town Council unanimously approved the budget during the final council meeting in the month of December. The council also approved to amend the 2013 budget during the Dec. 23 meeting.

The one amendment from the 2013 budget included a $212,000 amendment to the town’s water fund.

The original amount of $541,851 was revised to $753,851.

The water fund has been the primary point of concern for council members during the budget discussions.

With the Town of Lind completing a variety of projects during the previous year, the cash carry over for the 2014 budget of $2,558 became the cause of concern for the council.

Lind Mayor Jamie Schmunk explained the water fund is generally one of the lowest with cash carry over from year to year. Lind Clerk/Treasurer Patti Phillips added water bills are the last bills to be paid by Lind residents, which adds to the low dollar amount.

With the change of the year, Lind residents saw a $2 increase in water rates.

The Town of Lind has an ordinance to increase rates $1 a year, which raises this year’s rate to $56.50. Schmunk explained the raise in rates does help the overall amount in the fund, but it does provide an extra expense to residents.

The Town of Lind has experienced issues with Well No. 7 running dry, and the loss of the well meant the reduction of water allotted to the town’s two biggest consumers: the school district and the cemetery. The town is currently using grant funding to fix the issue with the well in order to ensure the town can continue to provide water to the two biggest consumers.

Phillips explained the cash carry over amount in the water fund would improve in the future when two Public Work Trust Fund loans are paid off.

The other point of concern for council members during the public forums in December revolved around the amount of money in the vehicle reserve fund. The fund was adjusted from $6,000 to $1,500 in the final budget to reflect the council’s requests.

The final budget for the Town of Lind include a balanced total in revenues and expenditures in the following funds: $191,760 for the current expense fund; $59,435 in the street fund; $7,505 in the airport fund; $9,703 in the capital construction fund; $1,058,740 in the water fund; $678,115 in the sewer fund; $66,422 in the USDA RD reserve fund; $7,510 in the vehicle reserve fund; $84,055 in the garbage fund; and $12,750 in the utility deposit fund.

The total amount of revenues and expenditures for the Town of Lind in the 2014 budget is $2,175,995.