Atlas Twp. – Although the township has come in under budget this year, the officials may ask taxpayers to pay for road fixes.
With the township’s fiscal year ending March 31, the Atlas Township Board approved the 2005-2006 budget at its March 21 meeting.
For 2004 -2005, Atlas Township revenue and expenses were expected to total about $1,075,204. Actual revenue as of February was $1,063,208; actual expenses totaled $927,031, leaving a surplus of $136,177.
‘We’re not to March 31 yet so any services provided this year in this time period will ultimately be booked back to this fiscal year,? said township clerk Tere Onica.’We try to budget very conservatively so we don’t go over, or if there is something that arises out of the blue we can handle it.?
Telecommunications income-generated from phone, cable, and other lines buried in the community-yielded $23,580 more than expected this year.
For 2005-2006, revenue and spending is budgeted at $1,050,168, as tax revenue is expected to be approximately $26,000 less than last year due to Headlee Amendment rollbacks.
Despite a decrease in revenue sharing last year, township officials are now slightly more optimistic, expecting nearly $4,000 more this year based on state promises to avoid revenue sharing cuts.
Since actual township expenditures-including utilities, computers, and office supplies’were $69,411 less than budgeted for the past year, the township has budgeted $25,190 less for the coming fiscal year, although pension benefits have doubled and a 3-percent across-the-board raise for township employees, elected officials, and contracted assessor fees has been implemented.
‘We made changes in our pension program because we don’t pay out any other benefits, and because we want to try to have incentives to keep people in our office once they’re here and trained,? said Onica.
The township board also budgeted $5,000 more in legal costs, in anticipation of increased contracted costs or ‘negotiations eating up legal fees?.
Although the township exceeded last year’s expected road budget by about $3,000, road expenses over the next year are again set at $200,000 to fix portions of Horton Road, although township supervisor Paul Amman has warned residents not to expect further road fixes without paying more.
The township’s fire fund, operating on .955 mills in 2005-2006, is showing an increase of $36,387 while the police fund, operating on .9699 mills this year is showing an increase of $30,100 over last year’s budget.