Eatonville council adopts budgets

The Eatonville Town Council picked up where it left off last meeting regarding two budget items, giving final approval to both an amended version of the 2021 budget and the 2022 budget.

“This is our one adjustment for the year to be able to add the additional revenues we received and the change to the electric and water fund for the error that was discovered and the interfund loan on the agenda for tonight,” explained Mayor Mike Schwab in referring to this year’s amended town budget.

The amended budget reflects the fact that this year Eatonville received federal American Rescue Plan Act funds in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the amount of $422,792, with the same amount to be received in 2022. Another factor in the amending of this year’s budget: the discovery in August of a revenue routing error that saw little more than $1.8 million of demand charges mistakenly go to the town’s water fund rather than the appropriate electric fund.

More than $613,000 of that has already been paid back, leaving some $1.2 million to be refunded to the electric fund.

The amended budget passed by the council approved a repayment plan to pay that sum back, with 25 percent of the payback allocated to the electrical capital fund.

The Eatonville Town Council also adopted the 2022 budget. According to the annual budget for next year, the estimated beginning balance is approximately $6.9 million, with estimated revenues of just over $12 million. Estimated appropriations/expenditures are approximately $12.4 million, with an estimated ending fund balance of some $6.6 million.