By Ally Lanasa, Staff Writer

(Sept. 17, 2020) The Berlin Mayor and Council on Monday approved the fiscal year 2021 general fund budget amendment, which increases the expense and revenue accounts associated with street improvements made this summer.

Town Administrator Jeff Fleetwood said money would be transferred from the impact fees for the street improvement extensions into the revenues portion of the general fund.

As of Monday, Fleetwood said the town has approximately $1 million in impact fees.

“We’re asking the council to transfer $350,000 from impact fees, which is another restricted fund to apply it toward the street improvements,” Mayor Gee Williams said.

Fleetwood said the total amount for all street improvements and concrete work that have been completed is nearly $550,000. The $350,000 will balance the highway user fees, he added.

The State Highway Association indicated that the town would receive about $240,000 through a letter of commitment, then another letter stated the town could anticipate receiving $222,000 after the covid-19 outbreak.

Fleetwood said he and Natalie Saleh, the town’s finance director, are anticipating receiving at least $111,000 in highway user money.

“The portion that comes in north of [$111,000] in highway user revenues, will that be used to offset the amount of money that’s been transferred from impact fees?” District 2 Councilmember Zackery Tyndall asked.

“Anything above [$111,000] that we predict to receive in fiscal ’21 would go against the [$350,000] you transferred or your proposed transfer today,” Saleh replied.

Tyndall asked Saleh if the mayor and council would be notified about how much the town will receive in highway user revenues by the end of the 2021 fiscal year and to include that balance in the fourth quarter report.

“The quarterly reports are where Natalie and I will do a narrative that spells out, ‘We’re doing well here, we’re not doing well here. This is the corrective action that we’re looking at doing,’” Fleetwood said.