Elizabeth Township hears budget proposal

By Christine Haines

chaines@yourmvi.com

The Elizabeth Township Commissioners had their first reading of the proposed 2021 budget Monday evening.

The proposed spending plan of $6.86 million is more than supported by anticipated revenues of $7.58 million, leaving a fund balance of $721,870.

“It looks like we’re in pretty good shape. We had monies budgeted for this year that weren’t expended, which helped us balance the budget for next year,” said Bart Rocco, vice president of the commissioners.

With the recent resignation of the township’s office manager, assistant code officer Greg Butler has been filling in and prepared the preliminary budget. Butler said the budget was based on worksheets prepared by department heads, last year’s budget and a four-year average of budget line items to come up with a conservative revenue and spending plan for next year.

A few changes were made in the spending plan during the Monday’s meeting. The posted budget at the township building will reflect those changes. It must be posted for 20 days prior to adoption, which is expected at a special meeting in late December.

Butler said he went through the current year’s budget and compared it to actual spending, highlighting any area which has spent more than 100% or less than 50% of the budgeted amount.

“I started asking questions as to why they were so high or so low,” Butler said. “We’re still in the black, even after lowering some of the revenue lines. It’s pretty conservative.”

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