Timnath town budget tied to annexation fees
By Dan MacArthur
Timnath Correspondent
While Timnath's 2005 budget calls for big increases in both revenues and
expenditures, that doesn't mean the town is rolling in the dough. In fact,
town clerk and treasurer Linda Thompson said it is a conservative budget
based on only those annexations reliably expected to happen.
General fund revenues are expected to increase 27.2 percent to $636,713
in the town whose budget now depends almost entirely on development-related
fees. More than $471,000 of that amount, or nearly three-quarters of the
town's projected revenue, is expected to come from annexations fees assessed
on the 925-acre Timnath Farms and 642-acre Nelson properties.
That 172 percent increase in annexation fees will help offset sharp declines
in sales and use tax proceeds, annexation application fees and state grants
that had funded a drainage study and portions of the administrator's salary.
Expenditures are budgeted to increase almost 39.2 percent to $628,577.
Notable proposed expenditures include the following:
- Nearly 87 percent increase in legal fees to almost $102,000 because of
increased costs in negotiating with developers.
- $28,381 for hiring a full-time deputy clerk.
- $10,000 for construction of a Main Street traffic calming median.
- $30,000 for installing a new heating and air-conditioning system in the
town hall.
The budget also includes $117,000 for either expanding or replacing the
town hall. Thompson stressed that project is tentative. She said a grant
is being sought to determine the preferred alternative.
For the first time, an Old Timnath Fund has been established with $180,000
provided by the developer of the Timnath Ranch property. The money is earmarked
for capital improvements to the original part of town.
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