Silver Lake Reviews 2021 Budget, Sets Trick-Or-Treat Time
October 15, 2020 at 3:11 a.m.
By Jackie [email protected]
The proposed 2021 total budget is $890,092. Of that, the rainy day fund is $7,000. The general fund is $471,692. The local road and street fund is $38,000. The motor vehicle highway fund is $231,900. The park and recreation fund is $4,500. The cumulative capital improvement fund is $1,500. The cumulative capital development fund is $22,500. The economic development income tax credit fund is $107,500. The law enforcement continuing education fund is $2,500. The sidewalk donation fund is zero. The police donation fund is $1,000. The local option income tax special distribution fund is zero. The park donation fund is $2,000.
Walsh said one of the number one jobs of a town council every year was to pass a budget, “so we’re in the middle of it and the later stages of it.” Walsh went over the summary of the budget with the town council. The reason behind him doing that was to give the town a better understanding of the impact of their budget.
Walsh said that the general fund was the town’s largest fund. The general fund is where Silver Lake is paying a lot of its salaries, benefits, insurance, repairs, maintenance, “all kinds of things come from there,” he said.
One thing Walsh explained was the circuit breaker credits that appeared in the budget. Silver Lake’s budget for circuit breaker credits is negative 27,100. Walsh said residential homesteads are capped at 1% of property taxes. If the house was assessed at $100,000, the property tax would be capped at $1,000. So if the homeowner gets a property tax bill of $1,100, they would still just pay $1,000. That $100 the homeowner doesn’t pay is called a circuit breaker loss. That loss in the budget is what taxpayers aren’t paying above and beyond what is required.
Walsh also discussed the health of Silver Lake’s budget.
Walsh said Silver Lake typically underspends its budget. He said Clerk-Treasurer Tonya Conley usually keeps a tight budget, so there’s usually not “a lot of fluff.”
Walsh also said the town has a healthy cash reserve of $554,000 that is being used sort of as the town’s saving’s account.
“That’s what we expect you’ll be starting off with in the bank at the beginning of next year,” Walsh said. If Silver Lake does need to, they can draw from that fund.
Walsh also pointed to the town’s operating balance percentage of 116%. He said that means it is estimated Silver Lake will end next year with over one full year of operations sitting in the bank.
“That’s a very good position to be in,” he said. In most communities, if they’re at 20%, “they feel pretty good; if they’re at 50%, they feel real good; and you guys are over 100%.”
Walsh also explained how the town is spending its budget.
Walsh said in the 2021 budget, 44% of Silver Lake’s budget goes toward overhead, 24% goes toward public safety and 30% on streets. He said, generally, in smaller towns, he sees the lion’s share of the budget going to overhead, public safety and streets.
There were no public comments.
The budget will be adopted at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 28 at Silver Lake Town Hall. The next regular town council meeting will be at 7 p.m. Nov. 5 at the Silver Lake Lions Club.
In other news, the council announced:
• Hydrants will be flushed next week, probably starting Monday.
• Trick-or-treat hours were set at 6 to 7:30 p.m. Oct. 30. People can stop by Memorial Park for refreshments and treat bags.
The proposed 2021 total budget is $890,092. Of that, the rainy day fund is $7,000. The general fund is $471,692. The local road and street fund is $38,000. The motor vehicle highway fund is $231,900. The park and recreation fund is $4,500. The cumulative capital improvement fund is $1,500. The cumulative capital development fund is $22,500. The economic development income tax credit fund is $107,500. The law enforcement continuing education fund is $2,500. The sidewalk donation fund is zero. The police donation fund is $1,000. The local option income tax special distribution fund is zero. The park donation fund is $2,000.
Walsh said one of the number one jobs of a town council every year was to pass a budget, “so we’re in the middle of it and the later stages of it.” Walsh went over the summary of the budget with the town council. The reason behind him doing that was to give the town a better understanding of the impact of their budget.
Walsh said that the general fund was the town’s largest fund. The general fund is where Silver Lake is paying a lot of its salaries, benefits, insurance, repairs, maintenance, “all kinds of things come from there,” he said.
One thing Walsh explained was the circuit breaker credits that appeared in the budget. Silver Lake’s budget for circuit breaker credits is negative 27,100. Walsh said residential homesteads are capped at 1% of property taxes. If the house was assessed at $100,000, the property tax would be capped at $1,000. So if the homeowner gets a property tax bill of $1,100, they would still just pay $1,000. That $100 the homeowner doesn’t pay is called a circuit breaker loss. That loss in the budget is what taxpayers aren’t paying above and beyond what is required.
Walsh also discussed the health of Silver Lake’s budget.
Walsh said Silver Lake typically underspends its budget. He said Clerk-Treasurer Tonya Conley usually keeps a tight budget, so there’s usually not “a lot of fluff.”
Walsh also said the town has a healthy cash reserve of $554,000 that is being used sort of as the town’s saving’s account.
“That’s what we expect you’ll be starting off with in the bank at the beginning of next year,” Walsh said. If Silver Lake does need to, they can draw from that fund.
Walsh also pointed to the town’s operating balance percentage of 116%. He said that means it is estimated Silver Lake will end next year with over one full year of operations sitting in the bank.
“That’s a very good position to be in,” he said. In most communities, if they’re at 20%, “they feel pretty good; if they’re at 50%, they feel real good; and you guys are over 100%.”
Walsh also explained how the town is spending its budget.
Walsh said in the 2021 budget, 44% of Silver Lake’s budget goes toward overhead, 24% goes toward public safety and 30% on streets. He said, generally, in smaller towns, he sees the lion’s share of the budget going to overhead, public safety and streets.
There were no public comments.
The budget will be adopted at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 28 at Silver Lake Town Hall. The next regular town council meeting will be at 7 p.m. Nov. 5 at the Silver Lake Lions Club.
In other news, the council announced:
• Hydrants will be flushed next week, probably starting Monday.
• Trick-or-treat hours were set at 6 to 7:30 p.m. Oct. 30. People can stop by Memorial Park for refreshments and treat bags.
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