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Pecatonica Township facing Budget deadline
By Chris Johnson
This time of year is expected to be busy for members of the Pecatonica Township Board.
Right now, before the current Fiscal Year expires, Trustees and Township Supervisor Joe Musso have to come to terms and figure out a way to spend the tax dollars they will have at their disposal next year.
Then they have to get the approval of a majority of Board Representatives and then present their findings on a workable FY Budget to the citizens of Pecatonica Township.
On Tuesday, Feb. 18, the Pecatonica Township Board met in regular session to talk about the Budget and other personal matters as they arose.
The revising and ironing out fine details on the FY 20-21 Budget has to be finished in order for any money to be spent to pay for things in the upcoming Fiscal Year.
How much each specific program or service receives, courtesy of taxpayers, has to be understood with a large scale plan in place to use those expected dollars.
Township Budgets cover the period running April 1, through March 31. This FY Budget expires in a little over a month.
Trustee Brian Boomer told his fellow Trustees and those in attendance at the Tuesday meeting that figuring out how the numbers would line up on the upcoming FY spending plan could almost be figured out by looking at what the Township has been doing.
“Generally we are using the same Budget as last year’s Budget with a few changes.”
Township Supervisor Joe Musso explained that a request for an increase has been made for a project he said he knows has to be undertaken. He said that will require a change on the upcoming Budget.
“We are going to put a little bit more in the Building Fund because we know we have to have some equipment under cover.”
Boomer questioned the Supervisor regarding the changes that had to be made, necessitating the line item adjustment.
“We have to redesign something. We have things like snowplows and stuff like that. Things that have to be under something.”
One of the other issues that took the attention of Trustees at the Tuesday meeting related to how things have been functioning at meetings in general..
Township Attorney John Nelson said he knows a lot of things aren’t being done right during meetings, such as Trustees talking when not recognized or public outcries rerouting the focus of the Board.
“I think we’ve been loose in enforcing some of the rules of conduct here. Mr. Musso has to make sure the meeting runs smoothly and proceeds without interruption.”
Nelson explained that through a majority vote of the Board of elected Trustees, certain requirements were put in place for correct operation.
There are things that Trustees and citizens can and can’t do during the public meeting, he expressed.
“It goes for Public Comment too. There is a time when the public can speak and the Board’s responsibility is to listen. It isn’t a question and answer session. It’s very clear. The Board’s duty is to listen to what the public has to say.”
The public is invited to speak at any regular monthly meeting of the Peatonica Township Board, which meets at 7pm. Deadline for public speaking is 6:45pm at the Pecatonica Township Hall.
