Sumpter Twp. Board delays adoption of 2023-24 budget

The Sumpter Township Board of Trustees took the recommendation of Township Manager Tony Burdick to delay the adoption of its 2023-24 budget from its March 14 meeting to the March 28 session.
Burdick told the board on March 14 that they got valuable input on the proposed budget and he and staff asked to allow them to go over it and bring a modified budget back at the next meeting. He asked the board to table the budget approval and it did.
Trustee Matthew Oddy, who was chairing the meeting in the absence of Supervisor Tim Bowman, said budget changes were recommended at the last meeting.
Trustee Don LaPorte said the board set requirements for a balanced, razor-thin budget. He said board members wanted funds available for upcoming needs, but not an unnamed, rainy day fund.
The original March 14 agenda carried an item entered by Supervisor Bowman for $7,000 raises for board members and $2,500 raises for deputies. This was removed from the agenda before the meeting and a new agenda published.
For the March 28 meeting, the agenda carried an item for 5% raises for each board member, which was followed by approval of the 2023-24 budget. (The Independent deadline does not allow a report on that meeting yet.)
The 2022 salaries provided by the township to the Independent showed the supervisor with a basic salary of $38,000, the clerk and treasurer with $30,000 each, and the trustees with $21,999.90 apiece.
In other business at the March 14 meeting, the board:
• Approved identifying and appointing Focus Group(s) to review and provide input and options for all proposed township recreation, development, and facility considerations. Township Manager Burdick will coordinate the project and make recommendations to the board;
• Approved directing the contracted internal auditor and accountant to review the water and sewer rates and the annual Carleton Farms landfill volumes;
• Approved the proposal submitted by Bureau Veritas to provide a township facilities assessment and space utilization report;
• Accepted the retirement of Sgt. James Cayce with a final active duty date of Feb. 28 with the employment separation date on or about April 21, with regrets;
• Approved promoting patrol officer Bart Devos and detective George Salajan to the ranks of sergeant effective March 15 at the rate of $38.45 per hour and then they were sworn in;
• Approved countering the offer to purchase 69.36 acres on Martinsville Road, accepting the price of $270,000 with buyer Laing to remove contingencies, pay for his own survey and 60 days due-diligence with the township attorney to draw up the agreement;
• Accepted the retirement of Det./Lt. John Toth with the final active-duty date of March 15 with the employment separation date on or about April 10, with regrets. This item was added to the agenda at the beginning of the meeting and Det./Lt. Toth was not present at the meeting; and
• Passed the township employment confidentiality agreement on a 5-1 vote with Trustee Peggy Morgan voting no and Supervisor Bowman absent.
At the workshop before the meeting Jon Johnson of Burnham Flower gave a presentation on the new contract for property and liability insurance as of April 1. He said there was about a 10% increase in price to $111,800 based on the increase in value of assets. He said they added 8-9% value on all structures and vehicles also went up.