Menahga City Council will discuss further at an May work session. 8:30 pm, Apr. 16, 2021 ×
Menahga Mayor Liz Olson called for a special budget meeting after seeing a negative checking balance and deficit spending in the 2021 budget.
She voiced her concerns at the Monday, April 12 city council meeting.
“How can these checkbook balances be in a deficit?” Olson asked, referring to the check reconciliation report for March 2021. Eight funds showed a negative balance, ranging from -$373 to -$347,775.
City Administrator Curt Kreklau said it was a coding issue in the accounting software. The 2021A fire truck fund, for example, shows a -$108,910 balance. It’s a bond payment that the city made, he said.
After budget cuts, the council dropped the levy .26 percent compared to last year. 1:50 pm, Dec. 15, 2020
The Menahga City Council on Dec. 8 adopted a final 2021 tax levy of $473,298 – a $1,246 or 0.26 percent decrease from 2020.
Last year’s final levy was $474,544.
City Administrator Curt Kreklau said the council “did a lot of work” to whittle the levy down from the preliminary one set in September at $577,554, which would have been a 23 percent increase. “So we’re basically keeping the levy steady from 2020 to 2021.”
“I was proud of us,” said council member Karol Andreasen.
The general fund levy accounts for $382,642 of the total levy. The remainder is general obligation improvement bond payments for payable 2021, totaling $90,656.