Belpre City Council reviews draft 2025 budget; weighs $1,000 health-contract correction and water-project financing

Belpre City Council members and city staff spent a budget workshop reviewing the draft 2025 budget, discussing corrections to several line items, and considering financing options for water-system projects.

Council participants discussed a $75,000 contract with the Marietta Health Department that was billed at $74,000. The department contacted city staff asking for the additional $1,000 to correct the underbilling. Meeting participants said the council could either absorb the $1,000 this year or hold the department to the billed amount; several participants noted the sum was small relative to the full budget and that approving it might preserve goodwill with the provider. No final vote was recorded in the transcript.

The council reviewed multiple interfund transfers and capital allocations. Staff reported that two items previously charged in operating lines (an ambulance and a snowplow) will be reclassified to the capital fund, requiring a transfer from the general fund to cover the initial expense. The meeting record also shows a proposed $5,000 transfer to the mayor's court fund and a plan to move ongoing mayor's-court-related expenses to the clerk’s fund in future budgets.

Water and sewer finances drew extended discussion. Staff explained that salaries previously split roughly 50/50 between water and sewer were reallocated to a 75/25 split based on actual work time, which raised the water department payroll line. The council reviewed capital items for the water system: a $300,000 allocation for radio upgrades (staff said the radios — not the meters — have been moved into ARPA funding) and a $553,000 city share identified for the water-tank project. Participants noted that debt service on the tank would total about $260,000 annually when repayments begin. Staff outlined financing options, saying the city could finance the work over six years (the staff presentation mentioned an estimated 2% interest option) or pursue a WSLRA loan, but council approval and specific legislation would be required to proceed.

Other budget items discussed included reallocating a software-support contract that had previously sat in a capital fund and dividing the expense across five departments; one-line adjustments to police and dispatch insurance and hospitalization figures; and a note that the SCADA project language was being finalized and its advertising pushed out by about a week. Staff said they would return revised pages and ledger-cleanup materials as the council requested.

The meeting included multiple requests from council members for clearer ledger mapping and for printed payroll sheets to trace how amounts roll up into summary lines. Participants repeatedly emphasized that some lines had been moved between accounts in the conversion to the current financial software and that a chart-of-accounts cleanup would be needed to prevent recurring confusion.

Next steps recorded in the discussion: staff will prepare revised budget pages and a chart-of-accounts printout for further review; if the council pursues external financing for water projects, staff will prepare the draft legislation for formal council consideration; and staff will monitor the Marietta Health Department’s next invoice to ensure the billing correction does not recur.