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Washington council approves budget, funds water infrastructure and community events
Summary
The Washington Town Council approved the annual budget after the treasurer said the town will draw from its long-term investment fund to pay for a new EQ tank and other water and sewer investments while also funding community events and modest wage increases.
The Washington Town Council voted to approve the town’s fiscal-year budget after a presentation by the treasurer outlining how the plan pays for water infrastructure and community programming.
Town Treasurer (S6) told council members that the budget will “draw down money from the LGIP, which is our long term investment fund” to support maintenance and improvements to water treatment systems, including an investment in a new EQ/EP tank. The treasurer said the drawdown is intended to support extra capacity needs tied to the Rush River Community Center and planned growth.
The treasurer said other budget items include increased funding for the local fire department grant, investments to reduce leasing costs by buying office equipment, modest wage increases for staff (including Barbara Mattson), and allocations for events to mark the town’s and nation’s upcoming anniversaries. “We’re pretty excited about that because that investment is really turning into kind of a payoff,” the treasurer said.
Public works staff (S2) clarified technical details about the wastewater plant, saying the EQ tank will “balance the flow to the two basins” and improve handling of FOG (fat, oil and grease) but will not raise the plant’s designed hydraulic capacity of 65,000 gallons per day. “All it does is it balances the flow… the ET plant isn’t gonna make the plant bigger. It’s probably gonna make it more efficient,” S2 said.
Chair (S1) framed the vote in the context of past fiscal choices, telling the council the town has invested roughly $2,500,000 in infrastructure through prior budgets and argued the town’s contributions benefit the county. After discussion, S2 moved to approve the budget; the chair conducted a roll-call vote and the council approved the budget.
The approved plan combines water and sewer budgets to afford greater flexibility in managing those funds, allocates money for maintenance and capacity improvements tied to the Rush River area, and sets aside funding for community events planned for July 4 and the town’s fall celebration. The council did not specify individual vote tallies in the transcript; the chair closed the budget discussion and opened the meeting to public comment.
