By Rebecca Dopp
TN Correspondent
Levan Town held several meetings on Wednesday, June 17, which included a work session, a public hearing and the regular meeting. In the work session they discussed the budget amendments for FY 2020, the final budget for FY 2021, a resolution to raise garbage rates, a utility funds transfer, and a resolution to adopt the final property tax rates and revenue for tax year 2020. In discussing the amendments for the FY 2020 budget, town clerk Elizabeth Hone said that there were no major changes from the previously discussed tentative budget amendments. The original FY 2020 was $635,910. The amended amount is $656,555. A balanced budget amendment is a constitutional rule requiring that a state cannot spend more than its income. It requires a balance between the projected receipts and expenditures of the government. Most revenues went up slightly, but one went down—licenses and permits (original $10,200; amended $8,775). Contributions and transfers were amended to $133,030 instead of $128,410 originally budgeted. In expenditures, the garbage department went down from the original budget (original $95,720; amended $89,820). The park also went down from original $34,475 to $24,700. The cemetery went down from the original $29,550 to $18,225. Transfers to capital projects went from $22,325 to amended $18,225. Council member Taryn Brooks said that the rodeo committee needed some equipment and wondered if there was money set aside for them. Hone said that the money was there if it was needed. “We did amend the budget so that there would be enough for those things [the rodeo needed],” she said. Hone said that some of the equipment could cross over for town usage such as upgraded speakers for the sound system and walkie-talkies. That way the rodeo committee wouldn’t have to use all of their budget for the items they needed. There was some confusion about who controlled the money for the rodeo. Brooks said she had been told that the money was controlled by the rodeo committee, but Hone said that the town budgeted and allocated that money. Brooks said that there was also a question about whether or not the town would take over the maintenance of the rodeo arena. Right now it is not ready for use, but she said that if it was worked, it would soften up. Hone said that a lot goes into the maintenance of the arena and it was a bigger discussion for another time. Another item that is needed at the arena is a storage container. The rodeo committee needed to repurchase poles and barrels, some of which were damaged by people riding ATVs in the arena. They would like to securely store them when not in use. Mayor Corey Christensen said that a container would be useful, but wanted the town to retain ownership of the container. The rodeo could store their equipment in it. “It’s still property of Levan Town,” he said. “It’s stored on Levan Town property, it’s purchased with funds from our account, and of course, if any insurance policies that go along with that are also owned by Levan Town.” Bruce Rowley, council member, said that money allocated to the rodeo should pay for it. He likened it to the ambulance department’s defibrillators. The town purchased them with money from the ambulance budget but they are the property of the town. They also made changes to insurance for the town employees. They approved the amendments in the regular meeting. A resolution to adopt the final property tax rates and revenue for tax year 2020 was approved in the regular meeting. The town approved the following property tax rates and revenues for the year 2020: General operations, revenue $23,154, tax rate 0.000681; tort liability, revenue $3,502, tax rate 0.000103; and water, lighting, power plant, revenue $1,088, tax rate 0.000032. “We are not raising taxes,” said council member Ray Evans. Hone said that if the town had decided to raise property taxes, they would have had to have a Truth in Taxation hearing, but since they chose not to, the rates set by the county remained the same. A resolution to set the garbage service rates was also approved in regular meeting. “Whereas the Town of Levan has incurred increased costs for providing garbage service, Whereas, the current rates per can do not cover these increased costs; Now, therefore, be it resolved by the Levan Town Council that garbage service rates be increased by $3.00 per can,” reads the resolution, No. 06172020-01. The resolution was passed by a 4-1 vote, with Jesse Richmond the lone nay vote. Brooks said that the town would not be able to continue providing garbage service if they did not raise the rates. In the regular meeting, the town made their annual disclosure that it is the policy of the town not to charge itself for its own utilities. “Because it is the policy of Levan Town not to charge the General Fund for the Town’s utility usage, these charges are transferred back to the General Fund from the respective Utility Fund,” read the disclosure. The electric fund transfer was $3,500 (represents 1% of the fund’s expenditures); the water fund transfer was $25,000 (represents 17% of the fund’s expenditures); the cable/internet fund transfer was $550 (represents .37% of the fund’s expenditures); and the gas fund transfer was $300 (represents .14% of the fund’s expenditures). The council approved the General Fund budget for FY 2021 in regular meeting. The revenue for the year is budgeted at $815,855 with the expenditures matching the revenue total. A public hearing was held in-between the work session and the regular meeting to discuss these items. No public comment was taken. |
