BY JESSICA STEELEY
Clarkston News Staff Writer
The end of the year is budget clean-up time for the township.
In his final 2016 review, Independence Township Budget Analyst Rick Yaeger found three overbudgeted accounts, which he said is comparatively minimal and the township is getting better at staying within budget.
The first budget amendment added about $11,000 to the original salary budget for the fulltime administrative department aide. The second allocated $20,000 into a fund for the Neighborhood Road Improvement Program. The last amendment adds money to the Independence Television manager’s salary budget to account for a wage increase that wasn’t originally budgeted.
After the amendment passed, Yaeger said all funds should be in position to beat their budgets.
General fund revenues are decreasing $253,091, or four percent, from $6,282,445 to $6,029,354. Expenditures are decreasing $532,390, 7.8 percent, from $6,818,061 to $6,285,671 for a decrease to fund balance of $256,317.
The township board also created a Hunting Boundary Map Ad-Hoc Committee to evaluate current hunting boundaries and develop a revised map to be considered by the Township Board. The final recommendation of this committee is expected in June 2017.
During the meeting, Supervisor Pat Kittle said the township needs new hunting boundaries because they haven’t been updated since 1982. Some areas allowing hunting are now residential, and hunting creates an unsafe area.
The committee will include resident representatives of larger rural property owners in the north and the more urban property owners in the south of the township. Therefore, two regular member residents and one alternate member per area will be appointed, along with two members of the township board.
The committee won’t affect open carry or gun owning laws, the supervisor said.