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Poland Village Council approves $1 million budget for 2015
POLAND
The village has a new budget for 2015 that highlights the issues village council members say are the biggest for residents: crime and road conditions.
Council voted Tuesday to approve $1,055,523 in permanent appropriations for the year, $55,875 less than the 2014 budget.
One of the biggest changes from last year’s budget is the allocation of an additional $10,000 for more police patrolling, which council members say is a response to an upward trend in crimes such as burglaries and robberies.
The total appropriation for the police department is $423,427. Most of that figure is for personnel costs such as salaries and health insurance.
Roads are a big concern for the village, council member Linda Srnec said, since many roads have not been paved for years, and the village spends thousands every year on hot-patching and other repairs.
“We don’t have the funding to be doing a lot of road paving,” she said. “How long can you just keep plugging holes in your roads and not repair them?”
Village council is considering putting a road levy on the ballot sometime soon, she said, but no decisions have been made.
Also in the budget is a pay increase of $1,570 for zoning administrator David Raspanti, which brings his annual salary up to $9,500.
“We determined he really was underpaid, so we decided to bump up his salary,” said Srnec.
The village also will pay to replace village hall’s roof this year, at an estimated cost of $11,500.
Other line items include $17,700 for street lighting, $45,670 for the mayor’s office and $86,320 for council members’ salaries and benefits. Council also allocated $22,500 for street repairs, $7,900 of which is for road-salt purchases.
Srnec said that though reductions in state funding for local governments strained the village’s budget, as it has in other communities, the village is in good shape financially.
“For the most part, we are stable. There is nothing in the red, but that is because of a lot of work to balance the budget. We try not to waste money, but to give the best services we possibly can,” she said. “Our biggest problem right now is the roads.”