Flat Rock council approves 2025–26 budget after resident questions salaries, DDA spending

The Flat Rock Town Council approved the town’s 2025–26 budget at its meeting after a resident raised questions about staffing costs, a proposed economic development line item and spending from the Downtown Development Authority (DDA) fund.

A resident, Mike Moffitt of Van Harper Street, told the council he had reviewed the draft budget and highlighted specific increases, including a cited 3.1% rise in property tax revenue and a 2.5% Social Security cost-of-living adjustment. “That’s every single person that lives in Flat Rock will pay $2,” Moffitt said, referring to the cumulative effect of the increases on taxpayers. He also asked why the municipal recreation center allocation increased to $300,000 from a prior $250,000 figure and noted a cited $119,000 total compensation figure for the recreation director. “Why not take half that balance and send it back to the taxpayers?” he asked about a roughly $900,000 DDA fund balance.

The council addressed concerns about a budget line labeled for economic development. A council member said the budget line funds an economic development department rather than any specific director, and that hiring a department head would require a separate job description, hiring process and a council vote. The council member added that the city does not currently have a named economic development director and the funds are not committed to a particular individual.

Council members also discussed compensation across departments in broader terms. One speaker said the town’s city administrator and treasurer, Brian, had been underpaid compared with peer jurisdictions and that the council’s recent pay adjustments were intended to reduce staff turnover. Other council members noted that line items appearing within departmental budgets (for example clothing allowances or retirement contributions) do not necessarily indicate single-person payouts and represent multiple line items within a department’s total.

After discussion, the council moved to take the budget off the table and then approved the 2025–26 budget by voice vote. The record in the transcript shows the motion passed; specific vote tallies were not provided. The meeting concluded with a motion to adjourn.

The budget discussion included multiple numeric details cited by speakers: a 3.1% increase in expected property-tax revenue, a 2.5% Social Security COLA reference, a stated town population of roughly 10,200 and a cited median household income of $58,000; the clerk department total was cited as $262,000, with the city clerk’s salary shown rising from $59,000 in 2023 to $72,000 last year and a proposed $79,000 for the coming year; a stated $81,000 retirement contribution appeared in the clerk department budget; and the DDA balance was described as approximately $900,000. The council confirmed that any decision to hire and name a department head would be subject to a job description, formal hiring process and a council vote.