By Mike Kruzman / news@whmi.com


Mid-fiscal year budget amendments have been approved by South Lyon Council.

During their final meeting of 2020, held online, City Council approved a host of changes to their 2020-2021 FY budget proposed by South Lyon Finance and Benefit Administrator Patricia Tiernan. A total of $195,633 was approved for covering General Fund expenditures. A large portion of that total was explained as going towards retiree health care trust accounts. $68,018 was due to the Liberty Street Paving Project and a $38,201 chunk was also needed for demolition and asbestos abatement costs from the McHattie Park house.

Tiernan said that when City Council adopted the budget, they put in a surplus that will be used to cover these costs so as not to decrease the General Fund.

Councilwoman Maggie Kurtzweil cautioned though, that these amendments are going to drop the surplus below $13,000 for the remaining 6 months. She pledged to be a stickler for keeping the fund where it is and not pulling from it. Tiernan said the plan going forward will be to look at accounts where expenditures didn’t come out where they thought they would, perhaps because of the pandemic. Funds could be moved around in there somewhat, with Tiernan agreeing that the ultimate goal is to not dip into the fund balance.

The Water and Sewer Fund doesn’t have this luxury though, and was amended to increase by a little more than a quarter-million dollars largely because of a water tank installation.

With the amendments approved, they will be folded into the current budget and used to help prepare the next one when Council begins on that task in January.