Photo by Leah Ingram Eagle.
Chelsea City Hall will be closed Veterans Day and Nov. 28-29 for Thanksgiving.
The Chelsea City Council passed the FY24 budget during the Sept. 19 meeting, and Mayor Tony Picklesimer said it’s the largest budget ever offered for approval.
With over $15 million in revenue and a $700,000 surplus for future projects, Picklesimer said the budget is a very healthy one and he’s excited about that. That’s up from $14,525,971 from the previous year's budget. The projected expenditures for FY24 are $25.6 million.
“Not only does this give us an opportunity to do some of the things we need to do, but also to save some money for some future capital items,” he said.
Picklesimer thanked the department heads for their work during the process. He said the budgeting process brought out some highlights regarding the operation of the library and pointed out how exemplary the Chelsea Library is compared to some of the others.
He also thanked Fire Chief Joe Lee and Deputy Fire Chief Jeff Russell and said he only ever hears compliments about their department and their quality of service they provide. He also mentioned the great job that the staff at the Parks & Recreation Department has done.
Lee said the city has been very generous and he will continue the Chelsea Fire Department better every day.
“We are so fortunate to have the quality of people working in our city that we do,” Picklesimer said.
Revenue highlights include:
Projected increase in lodging tax after the opening of the city’s first hotel: LaQuinta Inn
Anticipated use of ARPA Federal Funding is $826,829
Dedicated remaining capital project proceeds of $2 million for council discretionary projects
Expenditure highlights include capital projects of:
$7,785,615 dedicated from the educational sales tax and related bond issue toward school projects, donations and activities
$350,000 dedicated toward the completion of the ABC Store project
$400,000 dedicated for the completion of the additional community center gym
2.5% raise for majority of city employees
Fire & Rescue employees receiving 2-9% raises based on position
There were increases in the fire department budget (7%) to $5,495,000 up from $5,120,400 in FY23 and in the Park & Recreation and Chelsea Community Center budget (24%) to $2,084,000 up from $1,672,760 in FY23.
Along with the FY24 budget, the city’s holiday calendar was adopted.
The mayor and council were conducting the third round of interviews to fill the vacant city council spot and Council member Scott Weygand said they hope to make an announcement of the new member at the first meeting in October.
Upcoming dates:
10/3: National Night Out
10/3 and 10/17: Council meetings
10/9: City Hall closed for Columbus Day
10/28: Fall Craft Fair, Chelsea Community Center
10/29-30: Bikes 4 Kids rodeo
