Newberry Observer

Council discusses budget

POMARIA — Pomaria Town Council approved the first reading of the town’s 2018-19 budget after a motion from Councilman Richard Ringer and a second by Councilman Jimmy Wilson Monday night.

“On the motor vehicle tax, we are a little ahead of that $1,600, I put $1,650 because usually in May and June it’s a small amount so I bumped that up $50,” said Mayor Darryl Hentz.

Interest income will stay at five dollars, along with interest and principle at $125.

“Rental fees, we’ve collected $1,610 so far this year I just put that at around $1,600, we had it at $1,500 last year. It might go down it just depends on when they start working on the building, we may not be able to rent it out as much if they’ve got something going on,” Hentz said.

The total proposed revenue for Pomaria totaled at $38,405.

The town did not see many changes on the expenditure side. Two hundred dollars was proposed on printing, advertising, office, etc., the town has only spent $10 so far in printing.

Post office box rent had a proposed $75, the actual for this year was $70. Recreation facilities and maintenance remained the same at $250.

In proposed professional services, the town had $4,200, only spending $3,900 this year.

“In tort liability, we got a letter back in January, tort is going up 15 percent this year and property is going up 12 percent. We paid $5,574, if you take the tort and you add the 15 and 12 percent it’s going to be right around $6,355 this year,” Hentz said.

The total expenditures for Pomaria totaled at $38,405.

In other business, Jeff Shacker, Field Service manager with the Municipal Association of South Carolina updated Council on any updates that may impact the Town of Pomaria this year.

“We are working to get the Abandoned Buildings Act extended, it provides a tax credit for abandoned buildings that need preserving. I don’t know if that would really be significant for y’all, but I guess it’s conceivable if you work with the county and that a credit could be issued,” Shacker said.

Shacker asked Council to keep the business license debate on their radar for future sessions.

“The important thing for y’all would be the business license tax law that we collect on your behalf, I know that’s a major revenue item for you so we need to keep an eye on that. We are proposing, we have this in the form of a bill, to establish a payment portal for cities to pay business license taxes online,” he said.

Other business:

• The Town of Pomaria started with a beginning balance of $4,473.03 and ended the month with $2,897.06. For the month of April, the town brought in a total of $1,056.80 in revenue.

• Hentz informed Council that the Pomaria Old School Reunion will be held May 18 and 19.

Hentz
https://www.newberryobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/web1_Hentz-2-.jpgHentz

By Kelly Duncan

kduncan@newberryobserver.com

Reach Kelly Duncan at 803-768-3123 ext. 1868 or on Twitter @TheNBOnews.