The Wayland City Council Monday night adopted a $3.1 million general fund budget for fiscal year 2023-24.
City Manager Josh Eggleston noted the city is expected to take in about $3.143 million in revenue, spend about $3.029 million, leaving a surplus of $113,864. The fund balance at the end of this fiscal year has been pegged at $1.851 million.
The city manager said revenue increased because state aid payments are up by $483,000, but he doesn’t expect that good fortune to continue.
The Dora Weaver Recreation fund will enable the city to construct a pickle ball court and a dog park over the next couple of years, two items citizens said they’d most like to see in a survey.
It also was noted that the city has seen a bump in the number of applications for building permits.
However, some city streets still are in poor shape, leading Councilman Rick Mathis to point out they are paid for entirely by a different fund. One of the largest expenses for the city this year is the South Main Street project, which still is in progress.
The city’s tax rate will remain at 16.36 mills, but local residents will see higher bills for sewer and water, both funds now approaching $1 million.
“Some people think are taxes are too high, but we come in under the state average (for cities),” Eggleston said.
Another big expense will be for fire equipment, with costs shared with Yankee Springs and Wayland Townships. The city has submitted a grant application with the state to help with those expenses.
And the city is seriously considering buying a new street sweeper.
Though the budget contained a lot of negative developments, Eggleston quipped, “I’ve been though budget meetings for many years, with blood on the floor, but this didn’t happen this year.”
In other business at Monday night’s meeting, the City Council:
- Adopted the master plan that was recommended by the Planning Commission last April after many months of work.
- Tabled a resolution to authorize the city manager to execute a letter of understanding with the GELC labor union.
- Gave final approval to Fawn River/Prosper Cannabis to use a special use permit to construct a drive-through at its store on Clark Street.
Unbelievable, a street sweeper another new toy for the DPW. When is someone on this City council going to say enough? If they would have their water department or DPW workers clean the sewer covers on a weakly basis, this might help.
Also, I’m sure it would be less expensive to outsource this job if it was done once a month throughout the summer. And can someone explain how come I constantly see the employees driving around town and on occasions out of town doing absolutely nothing but wasting gas? I can imagine one of the cities biggest expense is fuel.
Also, the council should do a street by street get together and walk around the city residence neighborhoods and look at projects that need done, sidewalk repair or replaced, trees trimmed or removed. Because I can tell you there’s a lot of work to be done that money could be used for instead of purchasing a street sweeper!