Leelanau Township unanimously approved its proposed 2025-26 budget at a special meeting on March 18.
Salary resolutions, which include increases for board members like the clerk, treasurer, supervisor, and trustees, were also approved and will be effective in the new fiscal year starting April 1.
The treasurer salary was the first to be approved, which was set at $60,000, an increase of 22.5% from $49,240 in the previous year. The clerk’s salary, a 19% increase, is $62,000 up from $52,000; the supervisor’s salary is $38,262 up from $37,051, and the trustees’ salary is $5,146 (a total of $10,300 for two trustees). The supervisor and trustee salaries all include a 3% cost of living raise. The clerk and treasurer salaries include significant increases to provide living wages and to be more equitable to the pay of other townships such as Glen Arbor, which recently approved a salary resolution for its clerk of more than $63,000.
The township’s recommended 2025-26 budget includes estimated revenues for all funds totaling $996,100, whereas total expenditures (appropriations) came in at $1,124,007. The township had to dip into its fund balance to utilize $127,907 due to expenditures that totaled more than the projected revenues. The majority of the revenues that came in, approximately $570,000, came from current property taxes, as well as $170,000 in state revenue sharing.
The emergency services fund revenues come in at $1,803,216, with expenditures totaling slightly more at $1,827,800. The police services millage included zero revenue and expenditures due to the township board approving a motion in 2024 to suspend the police services millage for one year. The board agreed at the time that the township had “an extended amount of money” in the police services fund and could afford to not levy any millage for police services in 2024. The township’s police millage will expire at the end of 2025, and the board recommends renewal at the same rate this year to be determined by expenditures and fund balance. A slight increase in cost for police services is expected and the board anticipates the fund balance to be depleted this year. The library fund also reflected zero revenues due to the library being its own independent governing body/entity.
To read the full budget report online, go to https://leelanautownshipmi. gov.
