Budget Concerns

Why Does a Possible Budget Mistake Matter?

If the proposed village budget is wrong, it could hurt all of us for years to come.

We’re concerned that the people leading this merger may not fully understand the financial impact of their plan. Mistakes now could mean higher costs and fewer services down the road.

Here are the specific problems we see:

  • The overall spending numbers don’t add up correctly.

  • Not enough money is set aside for maintaining and improving roads and bridges.

  • My name (Tad VanNess) and budget work were used incorrectly as a source.

  • Fire department funds are being mixed with general funds, which is not legal.

Bottom line: If the budget isn’t right, taxpayers and families will be the ones paying the price.

Breaking Down The Concerns…

The Merger Commission Budget (https://stalbansmergercomm.com/merger-conditions/) lists expenditures in 2025 for Alexandria of $524,343 and St. Albans Township of $2,487,215 for a total combined expenditure of $3,011,558. 

In the next column they list New Municipality expenditures for 2026 of $1,312,808.

How is it possible to increase financial responsibility for roads, bridges and police, yet have such a significant decrease in expenses while at the same time adding 26 miles of county roads PLUS bridge responsibility?

Tad’s documentation was not used properly, creating a significant issue. Tad offered to create the Roads & Bridges Budget that is listed below. 

Tad’s suggested budget estimates a yearly cost to assume county roads and bridges of $1,370,498. This is for new expenses in a merged village that would be in addition to current expenses of each entity.

This one small subcategory alone shows more detail in the county road takeover than they have in the entire new village budget.

When we noticed the budget did not properly reflect the correct expenditures, we then determined that two significant areas were incorrect - fire and roads and bridges. 

  • We scheduled a meeting with the county engineer to get more information. 

  • Then we applied our knowledge and the document that Tad supplied to the merger commission to build a budget that we feel reflects the correct expenditures needed to maintain

After doing our own research we began to wonder where the merger committee is getting their numbers from and we have not heard that provided.

These are the numbers we believe are accurate:

We agree that a merged village would begin with a fund balance of $2.4 million, but when you put our projections in place, by 2030 there would be a negative balance of $157,500.

The difference between our projection for the year 2030 and the merger commission’s budget for the year 2030 is showing a $3.2 million dollar difference in expenditures. 

What does this truly mean:

  • If the new merged village spends more than it takes in, it will eventually run short of money. To make up for it, either services will have to be cut back (like road repair, safety, maintenance) or taxes will need to be raised.

  • When large developers push to build in the new merged village, it often leads to legal or zoning battles. If the new merged village doesn’t have enough money saved, it won’t be able to defend its land-use rules or challenge unwanted development. Having cash reserves gives the township the ability to stand up to developers and protect the community’s interests.