Webster Township's new budget looks good, township officials said

Webster Township has a financial plan for the upcoming fiscal year that devotes money to some important areas, such as the roads and senior citizen services.

Webster Township Supervisor John Kingsley told the Sun Times News the adopted budget has a revenue surplus of over $19,000 over expenditures. Kingsley said they are anticipating sending about $400,000 on roads this year, which the township has no obligation to do. He said the township has not yet approved any specific road projects yet other than to investigate the costs of a couple culvert replacements.

STN also followed up with township treasurer John Scharf.

Scharf said the budget for the fiscal year beginning on April 1 looks good. He said as far as overall revenue versus costs, for the General Fund, the budget is based on about $1.5 million in revenue and expenses.

He said he‘s pleased that the Township Board worked together to craft a balanced budget, one that passed unanimously.

Citing some budget highlights, Scharf said “Webster increased the ‘Senior Citizens Services’ budget by over 400 percent. For the third year in a row, Webster budgeted at least $400,000 for maintenance and repair of County roads. We reduced our annual contribution to the Capital Improvement Fund from $525,000 to $100,000.”

As to road projects, Scharf said Webster Township is preparing to apply for grant funding to replace "Culverts of Concern." He said the grant program requires matching funds from the township.

“For this, and other reasons, the Board has yet to decide on specific (road) projects,” Scharf said.

From the list of potential projects proposed by the county road commission includes Gregory Road from Huron Drive to Mast Road, which would include 5,000 tons of limestone and drainage improvements. This proposed project, like others, has not been finalized yet however.

In answering the question what in particular do you think the community should know about the budget, Scharf said the county owns the roads in Webster Township and they are fully responsible for their maintenance and improvement.

“Recently the Township Board met with State Representative Jennifer Conlin and we asked her to please work on insuring that local gravel road funding is provided to County Road commissions,” he said. “I encourage all citizens to ask their State Senator and Representative to adequately fund our County Road Commission. It's not right for Webster Township to spend 100 percent of the Township Operating Millage, every year, on roads that are someone else's responsibility.”