Summerton council passes spending plan

By ROBERT BAKER
Item Staff Writer
bbaker@theitem.com

SUMMERTON — Planning to spend about $1,162,920 in the coming fiscal year, Summerton Town Council passed the town's budget Tuesday during a regular meeting. The budget is about $330,000 less than one passed for 2008-09.

"We made a couple of little changes from last month," said town Administrator Bruce Behrens.

One of those changes was a slight addition of $250 to the municipal clerk's postage budget.

"We also added a 1 percent cost of living increase," Behrens said, noting a similar increase in Manning, which had 1.5 percent.

"We also had one part-time position in public works that went full-time and that added about $10,000 more in expenditures," Behrens said.

Overall, Behrens said he was pleased with this year's budget process. The 2009-10 fiscal year budget takes effect July 1.

"I think it went very well," he said. "The mayor (Jay Bruner) commended everyone. Council had two workshops to get things in order. I went over it one more time with department heads on Monday. That's when we had the two minor adjustments with the postage."

Behrens said next year's budget was simply a continuation of this year's.

"Council was very conservative in spending this past year," he said during a previous meeting. "I think that served them well."

The hardest-hit town department is administration, which will spend only about $185,000 in the coming year as opposed to the $294,000 slated for the department during 2008-09.

"Basically what that shows is the lack of any capital projects," Behrens said. "We don't have any capital projects planned for this year because we don't have the funds. So, we don't have those expenses planned."

Summerton Town Council meets regularly at 6 p.m. on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month at Summerton Town Hall.

Contact Staff Writer Robert Baker at bbaker@theitem.com or (803) 435-8511.