$6.8 million package up from $6.3M in current plan

By Greg Ellison

(May 13, 2021) The Berlin Town Council introduced its FY22 general fund budget by ordinance on Monday, with a public hearing scheduled on May 24.

Mayor Zack Tyndall said the proposed $6.8 million budget is balanced and represents an increase of $532,879 or roughly 8.5 percent over revenue of $6.3 for FY21.

“There are close to 700 line items in the budget,” he said. “It’s pretty expansive.”

Tyndall also highlighted utility, or enterprise funds, revenues: electric at $5.3 million, sewer at $2.5 million, water at $937,000 and storm water at $182,000.

A major portion of the general fund revenue increase for next year is expected to come from property tax at $3.7 million. That’s a 5.6 percent jump from the $3.5 million projected for FY21.

Gambling revenue from Ocean Downs is budgeted at $300,000, up from the $200,000 received in FY21.

Also, the Worcester County grant jumps to $517,000 in FY22, up 11 percent from the $465,000 received in FY21.

By contrast, general fund cuts in the new fiscal package include contributions from reserves dropping to $169,000, down 51 percent from the $350,000 earmarked in FY21.

Lastly, state aid to police drops to $43,000 in FY22, compared to $54,000 in FY21.

The administration department has one major budget cut and several significant increases.

Transfers to reserves from the administration department would fall to $30,000 in FY22, down 82 percent from the $175,000 in FY21.

Conversely, gambling contributions to reserves budget jumps to $300,000 in FY22, up 50 percent from the $200,000 in FY21.

Overall, the administration department budget in FY22 is $1.5 million, or 10 percent above the $1.4 million in the FY21 budget.

The Police department total budget in FY22 is $1.9 million, up 5.4 percent over the $1.8 million in FY21.

Public Works total FY22 budget is $141,000, up 5.8 percent from the $133,000 in FY21

The sanitation department jumps to $413,000 in FY22, up 9.8 percent over the $376,000 in FY21.

Parks and recreation’s FY22 budget is $513,000, up 196 percent over the $173,000 in FY21.

The spike in parks and recreation is tied to capital outlay for equipment, which is budgeted at $448,000, representing a 313 percent increase over the $108,000 spent in FY21.

Tyndall said minimal changes have occurred since a budget work session in late April and a slight tax rate increase in March.

“We had the work session and we had the tax rate hearing,” he said. “Not much has changed from the work session to the introduction that you have before you.”