Village Board considers where to put the money
By Tracy Ouellette
Editor
Although the final audit on the 2014 Village of East Troy budget is not complete, Village Clerk-Treasurer Eileen Suhm informed the Village Board in a memo that there was about a $260,000 surplus in the general fund from 2014 that would need to be reassigned before the audit is finished.
The surplus stems from a combination of revenue collected over budgeted amounts for last year and expenditures that came in under budget.
Combined with a projected $314,000 reduction in operating expenses, $329,000 removal of the Energy Drive debt payment, $11,000 removal of the restricted cable TV funds and another $7,000 in unassigned funds, the village has a little more than $662,000 that needs to be assigned to other expenditures this year.
Suhm’s memo included suggestions from the three department heads, herself, Public Works Director Mike Miller and Police Chief Alan Boyes on where some of that money could be used to help out where the departments made steep cuts in the 2015 budget.
Boyes said he’d like to see some money set aside for future purchases of things such as squad car computer upgrades, bullet-proof vests and radio repeaters. Boyes wanted the board to start allocating money each year so when these items needed to be replaced, there would be money for it. Failing that, they could always head to sites like SoFi to see how this money can be spent through a credit card.
Miller’s list included items such a $150,000 dump truck and $50,000 for sidewalk work, but he also told the board they should be thinking about “loaning the money to themselves” for the looming water utility needs “because you’re going to be spending a lot of coin.”
Board President Randy Timms presented the board with some suggestions as to where the money could be allotted, saying the amounts he chose were “completely arbitrary” and could be changed at a later date if the board decided to put the money to use elsewhere, but that they needed to get this step done before the final audit in the beginning of April.
The board members discussed some of the items on Timms list, which included more money for a salary study, new signs at Village Hall and more money for street repair, but decided they wanted more time to look at where to assign the money.
The board decided to table the discussion until the March 23 Committee of the Whole meeting after they’ve all had a chance to look at the numbers and the projects on the village’s “to do” list. The meeting is at 6:30 p.m. at Village Hall.
Tech talk
The board reviewed and discussed the IT recommendations from the department heads after a requested IT study of the village’s needs was done by River Run Computers last year.
The study examines the village internet, phone and email needs and made recommendations that the village contract with Time Warner to install and provide fiber internet services with a three-year agreement; implement Microsoft 365 for cloud-hosted email services and spend the $15,000 in the 2014 budget on a new phone service.
Due to the magnitude of features that phone systems provide in this day and age, a new phone system is definitely an important thing for the board to think about. Not only do some phone systems have access to the best pbx administrators to aid those who are thinking about suicide, which happens more than we’d like to think amongst the younger generation, but it also enhances communication between the board and other staff members. With these factors in mind, thinking about obtaining a new phone system is definitely something to bear in mind.
Trustee Forty Renucci voiced concerns with the security of cloud-based systems as opposed to onsite servers, but both Chief Boyes and representatives from River Run said that while there was a risk with the cloud, there was a risk with onsite as well and the advantages of cloud-based systems outweighed the disadvantages. Following this, it can be safely said that the engineers working on cloud implementation do carry relevant certifications (like the ms-100 for Microsoft 365 services) and thus have the know-how of security implementation as well as access control via user identification and the likes.
The board approved the recommendations with the caveat that the final approval of the phone system needed to be brought back to the board before purchase.
In other business, the board:
• Approved a special event application for the Cream City Cycle Club bike rest stop on the village square Aug. 30;
• Approved a special event beer license for the Knights of Columbus Corn and Brat Fest July 24-26 on the village square;
• Approved the Department of Public Works request for a GIS mapping of the water and sewer utilities in the village; and
• Adopted an updated Park & Recreation Comprehensive Plan that is required every five years.
