Supervisor, clerk pay hikes win OK at Annual Meeting

Converting a storage area into an all-accessible bathroom in the township hall and other improvements are part of Empire Township’s budget for 2007-08.

During the township’s Annual Meeting Saturday, a public hearing was held on the three-fund budget that calls for $748,593 in revenues and expenditures for the fiscal year, which began on Sunday, April 1.

As part of the Annual Meeting, the 12 township electors who attended the meeting approved on a voice vote a salary resolution adopted by the Township Board in February. Clerk Christine Neiswonger and treasurer Hal Pendleton’s salaries will each increase 3.3 percent, from $17,140 to $17,706. Supervisor Bill Bolton and trustees Carl Noonan and Phil Deering did not request a pay increase, and their salaries remain at $6,800 for Bolton and $900 each for Noonan and Deering.

The 2007-08 general fund anticipates $191,352 in total revenues, up 15 percent from $166,282 in 2006-07. The township expects to receive $70,800 in property tax revenues, up 8 percent from $65,600. A 1 percent tax administration fee should bring in $37,000 in revenues, up 15 percent from $32,000 last fiscal year.

Township officials are also expecting to receive more in state share revenues for 2007-08. In 2006-07, the township anticipated receiving $35,500 in state shared revenue, but as of March 29, 2007, it had received $56,543. For 2007-08, the township is forecasting $46,000 in state shared revenues, down 18.6 percent from $56,543 in actual amounts received, but up 31.4 percent from the 2006-07 anticipated amount.

The biggest budgeted expense in the general fund is $13,000 for a capital outlay at the township hall. Neiswonger said the funds will go to converting a storage room adjacent to the kitchen in the hall into a bathroom that is compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The project should be completed before the end of summer.

Other noted spending increases in the general fund include $2,300 for the township’s annual audit; a 3.3 percent salary increase for assessor Christopher Krellwitz, from $17,820 to $18,410; $2,000 for a new computer for the township office; and $2,000 set aside for the Glen Lake dredging fund.

Overall general fund expenditures for 2007-08 are $191,352, up 14.2 percent from $167,519.
There are some noticeable spending decreases for the new fiscal year as well. Under the planning commission area of spending, the township dropped spending for legal and professional services 40 percent, from $5,000 to $2,000. Noonan, the board’s representative on the Planning Commission said planners are wrapping up updating the township Zoning Ordinance.

For the fire fund, the township is forecasting revenues of $530,241 for 2007-08, down 4.6 percent from $556,000 in 2006-07. The township anticipates collecting $446,000 in property tax revenues for the fire fund, down 7.3 percent from $481,000 it budgeted for in 2006-07.

Overall fire fund expenditures are expected to jump 5.2 percent to $530,241, from $503,804. Most of the increase comes from an 80 percent jump in contingencies (from $10,000 to $18,021), a 50 percent jump in capital improvement (from $20,000 to $30,000), and an 11 percent increase for equipment (from $36,000 to $40,000). Township fire chief Ryan Deering said the department is purchasing new equipment for members, and is setting aside funds for a possible addition to the fire hall if a merger of the Empire and Glen Arbor departments is completed before the end of the fiscal year on March 31, 2008.

There were no changes noted for the campground fund. Revenues and expenditures for 2007-08 remain at $27,000.