Budget & Finance Committee

MEETING MINUTES Village of Palmyra Budget Committee Meeting Monday Sept. 22, 2025 100 W. Taft St. Village Hall Meeting Room 6:00 p.m. The meeting was called to order at 6:02 pm by Chairperson Wallace: Roll call: Wallace, Ball, Tucker- present. Tucker -excused. Also present: Tim Gorsegner, Scott Halbrucker, Stephanie Butler, Paul Blount, Penny LePak, Mike Gartzke, Stephen Clubb, Town of Palmyra Chairperson Frank Sauter, and Laurie Mueller Business 1. Discussion/possible action on 2026 budget requests for Village Departments. The Rec. Director presented sports fees for 2026 with increases to nearly all sports due to costs of jerseys, paint for fields, etc. continually increasing. The late fee will also go from $5 to $25. Discussion of a possible 2nd gun raffle took place; it’s too late this year but maybe next can try to do 2 raffles. Tucker asked if there could be concessions sold at ball games. Butler said she can’t get anyone to help sell the concessions, they say they will but then don’t show. She is continuing to help Eagle Rec. with sports that are taking place there as Eagle has no Rec. Director at this time. Possibly our Rec Committee Chair could reach out to Eagle board to see if they might be willing to help fund Butler’s hours she is spending there. She will put in the increase fees into her 2026 budget. Public Works: Committee Chair Wallace would like Halbrucker to take out the cost to have Tru Green spray the park for weeds. He will check to make sure there is no contract in place with them. Discussion on whether or not to put new wood chips down at the park. It hasn’t been done since 2024 but if we take it out of the 2026 budget it is also a safety concern. Committee decided to leave the chips in the budget. Halbrucker said that sidewalk construction for 2026 might be able to be decreased, he will look into this. Municipal Court: Judge Stephen Clubb was asked how he felt if the Village Board were to disband the court. He stated that it is not up to him. Discussion on what the revenues and expenses for court have been over the last 3 years. Wallace/Ball motion to recommend to the Village Board that they consider disbanding the municipal court. All ayes-notion carried. If the Village Board wants to consider this, they need to adopt an ordinance before Oct. 1st. President Gorsegner will contact the Village attorney and ask him to draft the ordinance for a special village board meeting. Police Dept.: Paul has looked for grants and received a couple for training. Jill Hoard is always on the lookout for grant opportunities. There needs to be $6,000 added to the training line for Blount to attend the training that the Police & Fire Commission and Village Board voted to take. Some items were cut; citation books, prisoner fees if we go with Jefferson County Court. Some PD accounts were reviewed to see what the activity was in them to answer some questions. Blount explained that there needs to be something in the budget to replace his position as a Police Officer but that might be for only half of the 2026 budget year. Fire/EMS: Again, some accounts were reviewed to see what the activity was in them as well. Committee asked if they could look into a price from Verizon for cell phone service. Mike Gartzke explained the cost for turn out gear and that is specific to the person. $3,000 for a set of turn out gear and even part time employees have to have the gear. Talked about putting a policy in place for employees to sign that if they leave employment after a specific time frame, they will be responsible for reimbursing the village for this gear and possibly some training. The new EMS Billing company should be taking over by Jan. 1st so we could see some increased revenues from that and also reduced expenses as their fees are less than the current company we have. Hose testing is being done in house to save money. Some slight reductions to certain lines were discussed. Library: Wallace said that the library is asking for an additional $5617 from the Village for 2026. The Village gave the library $112,350 in 2025, which was a $5133 increase over 2024. They know the library is important and Director Dexheimer is doing a great job but they don’t feel the Village can afford this increase. Wallace/Ball motion to recommend that the library levy remain at $112,350 for the 2026 budget year. All ayes-motion carried. Clerk’s Dept: Mueller explained that the position she has budgeted for Dee Dee’s replacement is only $20/hr and she believes that it is going to cost more than that to find a fairly qualified person. She also has only budgeted this person at 32 hours a week, that might increase as well. Scott Halbrucker has offered to have the utilities pay 40% of the cost of this new person as they will be working on items for him and the utility. Mueller explained some of the details of her budgeted line items. Committee agreed there really isn’t much here to cut. Another meeting was set for Sept. 30th at 6 pm. Wallace/Ball motion to adjourn at 8:18 pm. All ayes-motion carried. Respectfully submitted, Laurie Mueller, Village Clerk/Treasurer Minutes approved without corrections on Oct. 20, 2025