Another budget amendment needed for Lake Santeetlah
Lake Santeetlah – Pending litigation continues to force Lake Santeetlah to move money around, to cover costs.
During their Oct. 15 meeting over Zoom, council members approved a $58,000 budget amendment, to cover more anticipated legal costs, as well as to increase advertising and promotion. To achieve the goal, $26,000 will be moved from escrow to a line item, with another $32,000 from a general savings account.
Council member Roger Carlton clarified that the money will come from profits generated by the sale of lots on Lake Santeetlah, which Mayor Jim Hager confirmed.
“So the question I have before voting on this: is there anything left from the sale of the proceeds if we approve this budget amendment?” Carlton questioned.
“No, it totally wipes it out,” Hager responded.
The council just discussed a $27,000 amendment last month, in the wake of the Mathews/Cochran vs. Town of Lake Santeetlah case coming to an end.
Also at the meeting:
* The town unanimously awarded an $8,000 paving contract to HMC Paving & Construction to repave both the front entrance and Cherokee Lane. Both will begin being paved in the spring. “It’s starting to crumble,” Hager said of Cherokee Lane.
* Town Administrator Kim Matheson noted during the financial report that Lake Santeetlah has collected $13,018.57 in taxes for the first quarter of the 2020-21 fiscal year, but the biggest collection timeframe has yet to come.
“November, December and January, we see the largest amount of tax collection come in,” Matheson said. “I think the majority of the tax collection will come in during the next quarter.”