BERLIN – Municipal officials approved a $19 million budget for the Town of Berlin this week.
On Monday, the Berlin Town Council approved a $19 million budget for fiscal year 2018. The spending plan for the fiscal year beginning July 1 is 5.5 percent lower than the budget approved last year.
Broken down, the 2018 budget includes a general fund of $7.7 million, an electric fund of $5.6 million, a water fund of $1.2 million, a sewer fund of $3 million and a stormwater fund of $1.5 million.
The approved budget is slightly different than the one originally proposed by town staff. Community Parks and Playgrounds grant funding of $126,270 that had been included in the proposed budget was removed, as officials learned in recent weeks that the town had not been awarded the grant this year. The grant would have funded the bulk of the cost of installing restrooms at Stephen Decatur Park.
Town Administrator Laura Allen said the town already had Community Parks and Playgrounds grants for two projects — the replacement of tennis courts at Stephen Decatur Park and one for permanent restrooms at Henry Park — that were still open.
“They want us to get those projects completed,” she said.
Councilman Dean Burrell, long an advocate of installing permanent restrooms at the town’s parks, said he was sorry to learn the project would not be happening this year. He indicated that the town could have supported the project once it learned a grant was not coming.
“I’m really disappointed we could not find funds for those restrooms regardless of what the state has done,” he said.
Burrell said park patrons would continue to have to use portable toilets, even with young children.
“That’s a shame here in the town of Berlin,” he said.
The council voted unanimously to approve the budget, but not before Councilman Zack Tyndall made a suggestion for the coming year. He told town staff he wanted to see area nonprofits that sought funding from the town present their requests sooner. Several only made their annual funding requests in the past few weeks.
“We had some this year coming in toward the end (of the budget process),” Tyndall said.
Town officials agreed to advise nonprofits that in the future funding requests would have to be provided to the town by March.
