By Dave Fidlin
Correspondent
Faced with a projected budgetary shortfall in 2013, officials overseeing the Waterford Waterway Management District are in the midst of a line-by-line review of expenses.
Commissioners sitting on the WWMD Board last week held the first of several budget meetings as a prelude to presenting residents with a polished document at the annual meeting in September.
If WWMD were to maintain a status-quo approach to operations, the budget would swell by about $30,000, from $245,000 this year to about $275,000 in 2013. The increase is due, in part, to rising expenses.
The largest portion of the budget – about 80 percent – is devoted to projects, which in recent years have included invasive aquatic plant management, dredging and sediment sampling.
The full magnitude of WWMD’s project budget in 2013 will be a focal point of future budget discussions. Commissioners had little time to tackle the list of items within the time allotted at the June 28 budget presentation and workshop meeting.
With the shortfall in mind, board members began looking at ways to cut costs without compromising services. Even finite line items – including postage, office supplies and printing and copying costs – are being scrutinized.
Commissioner Barbara Baron said the budget deliberations should not be done in a vacuum. She pointed to last year’s annual meeting, when residents raised concerns and criticism.
“I want greater transparency with the public,” Baron said. “(The budget) should be a very visible thing when we communicate this to our owners.”
During the preliminary budget deliberations, commissioners tentatively agreed to reduce funding allocations for a few basic line items, including office supplies – from $1,000 to $500. Funding for the development of the district’s website, www.wwmd.info, also could be trimmed, from $500 to $300.
Additionally, commissioners anticipate allocating less toward newsletter printing costs. In recent years, $5,600 had been set aside to assemble a quarterly newsletter. But such a document has never been produced within such a regular interval. The line item could be trimmed to $2,500 next year.
Several commissioners proposed cutting the operations budget, where $10,000 in expenses has been allocated. But WWMD Chairwoman Kelly Cornelius cautioned against such a maneuver.
“I take issue with that,” Cornelius said. “I won’t be able to continue to offer the amount of time I’ve been offering, and more assistance is going to be needed. We have some major projects, and we don’t have the luxury to just figure it out.”
While WWMD is largely a volunteer-driven organization, Cornelius said it might be necessary to hire a person to handle some of the administrative tasks. Also, outside expertise will be necessary for some of the future projects on WWMD’s bucket list.
Commissioner John Bostrom agreed with Cornelius’ assessment.
“I think there’s going to be an administrative assistant type of person that’s going to be needed to get some of this work done,” Bostrom said.
Commissioners will hold another budget workshop meeting this month to continue hashing over the budget. Plans calling for voting on a draft version of the 2013 budget in August.
Residents within WWMD’s boundaries will have an opportunity to vote on the 2013 at the organization’s annual meeting, scheduled for 9 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 15, at Waterford Town Hall, 415 N. Milwaukee St.
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