By Jim Hayden
Correspondent
Laketown Township is in solid financial shape, per its recently-completed audit.
Siegfried Crandall principal accountant Joshua Gabrielse presented the 2023-24 fiscal year audit to the township board Wednesday, July 10. Highlights:
• Laketown’s total net position rose by $486,095 (6 percent) as a result of the year’s activity;
• Of the $9,375,078 total reported, $1,296,105 (14 percent) is available to meet ongoing township obligations without constraints established by debt covenants, enabling legislation or other legal requirements;
• The general fund’s unassigned $1,464,070 balance representa 87 percent of general fund expenditures. “That’s a really good position to be in,” Gabrielse said. The almost $1.5 could sustain township operations for about 10-and-a-half months.
Township Manager Al Meshkin asked Gabrielse to summarize how the township stands financially.
“I would say average to excellent,” he responded.
The audit also noted the township has $491,744 in long-term debt, a decrease of $169,990 due to timely principal payments. The board has been making several early payments on bonds including the Felt Estate.
The FY 2024-25 budget does not anticipate significant changes in revenue sources. “The township,” the report says, “has budgeted expenditures for the upcoming year at amounts sufficient to support its ongoing programs and activities, while maintaining the current levels of its resources.”
Asked if there were areas in the audit Laketown could improve on, Gabrielse answered, “No.”
Meshkin and the township staff, he went on, were easy to work with and the quality of the books were “extremely easy” to look at.
The township’s fiscal year is April 1 through March 31.
A copy of the audit is available at laketowntwp.org, under “Boards & Commissions,” “Township Board” under “2024 Agenda & Minutes.”
The township board approved its 2024-25 budget in March expecting about a $5,000 increase over the past year’s budget.
Also Wednesday, the board unanimously approved amendments to this year’s budget, mainly to move funds from last year to this year for demolition of the Huyser House.
In other business, the board:
•Accepted Meshkin’s retirement after 35 years as t manager. His last day will be Jan. 3, 2025. He has served the township for 35 years.
• Approved seeking full-service recruitment proposals to seek Laketown’s next manager. Meshkin said proposals should be returned for action at the August meeting and replacement picked by year’s end “for a seamless transition,” he said.
• Amended its newly-passed open burning ordinance to better define recreational fires and give the Graafschap Fire Department chief more authority over permitting in the dunes west of 66th Street.
