Freeburg trustees at their monthly meeting last Monday, March 9, adopted a budget for the fiscal year that began March 1 and ends Feb. 28, 2021.

By far the largest portion of the $278,000 budget will be street improvements, for which trustees allotted $180,000.

Trustee Dale Struemph asked if street improvements were planned for every other year, which was supposed to be the case, his colleagues agreed.

However, Village Clerk Allen Gradel said two years ago streets were not addressed because it was too late in the season to secure a contractor.

Of the $180,000 approved this year, Gradel said initially a tractor was to be included, but Mayor Darryl Haller suggested holding off on that purchase for another year or two in order to get the streets up to speed.

“We have a lot of bad streets right now,” Haller said. “Once we’re sealing them, we’re fine. We have roads that need to be patched and worked, and we can spend that money there.”

Gradel said $130,000 would go a long way toward street improvements.

Public Works Director Todd Feeler added that the idea was to get the projects done for less than $75,000 to stay below the prevailing wage requirement.

“I could have it bid both ways and see the pros and cons,” said Feeler.

“What’s better with prevailing wage besides paying more?” Haller asked. “You’re going to get the same people doing it, aren’t you? They’re just going to make prevailing wage.”

In 2019-20, the village spent $23,700 for a truck and $83,755 for asphalt and sealing, and with all salaries and other expenses combined, the total spent on streets was $182,461.05.

Also approved in the budget was $35,000 for administration, $27,000 for trash removal, $13,000 for street lights, $12,000 for insurance, $5,000 for park improvements, $3,500 for miscellaneous and donations, $2,000 for furniture/fixtures, and $500 for animal control.

With $278,000 in expenses and an estimated $210,000 in sales tax revenues, trustees agreed to used $68,000 from reserves to balance the budget.

By comparison, Freeburg last year had expenditures of $272,293.05 and revenues of $195,749.54, with $76,543.51 pulled from reserves. In 2018, the village spent $161,853 while bringing in $209,156 for a surplus of $47,303.

In other business, trustees approved salary increases for employees as well as elected officials.

Because Feeler received a raise last September, along with a lucrative retirement match, he was given an increase of 25 cents per hour, to $19.

Trustee Shane Zimmer said he was fine with between 25 and 50 cents an hour, and trustees after a short discussion agreed to the bump to $19 per hour.

Gradel ($950 per month), Water Clerk Cindy Struemph ($550 per month), and part-time employee Riley Steinman ($12 per hour) will remain the same.

Trustees will see an increase from $90 per month to $100, a decision which required a tie-break vote from Haller.

Trustees Glenn Haller and Zimmer said they were okay with remaining at $90, which has been the rate for the last three years, while trustees Dale Struemph and Scott Knoll agreed with the $10 per month increase.

“I would like to see an increase,” said Struemph, acknowledging that some trustees will not see the increase next year due to the election calendar.

Village policy states that trustees will not get a mid-term increase.

Zimmer, meanwhile, said he doesn’t see a need for the extra $10 per month.

“Yeah, we deal with a lot of flak, but at the same time, it’s not that big a deal,” said Zimmer.

“I’m kind of like Shane,” said Glenn Haller. “It seems like plenty. That’s just my thought.”

Knoll said he saw both sides, and could go either way before siding with Struemph.

Mayor Haller then broke the tie.

“I’ll vote for $100 and move on,” he said. “There’s been an increase every three years, so let’s do it.”

The chairman’s monthly salary of $275 remained the same. The last time that was increased was in 2018, at which time the rate increased $25 per month.

* The next meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. April 13, at which time incumbents will be sworn in as the village does not need an election.

Remaining business from this meeting will be presented next week.