Council examines 2021 budget

The Moorcroft Town Council met on Monday to discuss the 2021/2022 budget with the municipal departments, beginning with Fire.

The final budget for this department remained relatively status quo as the council and department representative Fred Devish were able to line items not in use for the coming fiscal year to be moved to the areas that needed attention.

As for capital expenditures in the coming budget year, he asked for ten new air packs for the crew at approximately $1000 per unit. “That would give us 20,” he said.

Devish was reminded of a WYOSTAR account previously set up by the town specifically to address these needs and mitigate these larger expenses; this account currently holds $11,000. However, Devish was advised by Councilman Dale Petersen to “hold back a little bit” from making any large purchase until the COVID-19 recovery grant funds are available if possible, thus allowing more use for the $11,000.

Expressing concern for the growing number of volunteers, though, Councilman Ben Glenn spoke: “I don’t want to stifle that by any means so if [the number of air packs available is] going to be a determining factor to fill seats, let’s figure that out.”

The department was also advised by Glenn, himself a longtime volunteer firefighter, to begin looking for a newer pump truck in preparation for the end of the service life of the current unit.

The council then addressed their own budget. Two repeating costs were examined for possible mitigation: the bookkeeping platform, Caselle, including continued training and the town’s long time auditing firm, Casey Peterson and Associates.

The council accepted Clerk/Treasurer Cheryl Schneider’s advice to retain the Caselle program and training at current cost, but Glenn asked that she seek proposals for the coming fiscal year’s audit that, by federal standards, must be a complete inspection due to federal funding.

Casey Peterson will charge the town approximately $25,000 for the complete audit and Glenn would like to see a comparison: “Our systems, that we are paying premium for, should make these audits a lot simpler for any auditing company. Next year, let’s look at another auditing company and have a comparable bid. We make everybody else in town bid.”

The other departments, Ambulance, Public Works and Police, were not on hand to join in this budget discussion, but via Mayor Dick Claar, Public Works Director Cory Allison advised the council that he can work with his existing budget amounts. His only request from capital expenditure is another pickup and a new dump truck in the future.

The next budget discussion will take place Monday evening before the regular meeting.