Ortonville- The village council unanimously approved the 2007-2008 budget during their meeting June 25.
The final budget, to which changes can always be made, has total estimated revenues of $715,144.72 and total estimated expenditures of $701,944.50. Revenues are up more than $100,000 from last year’s budget of $612,744? in part because of $35,000 transferred from fund equity. Expenditures are down by a little more than $25,000 from $727,487 last year.
‘We sharpened up our pencils and tried to calculate the expenses a little more carefully,? said Village Manager Ed Coy. ‘There’s a lot less wiggle room in the budget this year.?
Part of the reason for the tighter budget is what Coy calls a ‘whopping? 38 percent increase in health insurance costs since last April 1 from village insurer Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. The village currently has coverage for three employees and their spouses and dependents. Five employees are eligible.
‘The biggest thing any business is dealing with is the cost of health insurance,? says Coy. ‘Health insurance far outstrips inflation. It’s rising faster than fuel, at least for us. Insurance eats up more and more of revenue.?
Another planned change for the budget includes a new department for sewers, with $5,000 allotted this year for engineering, public information, legal expenses and miscellaneous.
‘That’s probably not enough,? said Coy. ‘We need to discuss it.?
Coy said a planned November vote on sewers is questionable as the clock ticks away, and if the vote is going to happen, ‘we’re really going to have to hustle.?
He added that village officials have given up on a sewer timeline until they get control of a piece of property for a wastewater treatment plant.
The village council has been offered a wastewater treatment plant agreement by the township that would give the village use of township land with some stipulations that the township could later tie in to the system and expand the plant when the time comes. The council, says Coy, should make a decision on the proposed agreement within the next two weeks.