Clarksburg’s Mayor and Aldermen passed the City’s 2025-26 Budget during its Monday night meeting, June 23.
The meeting was preceded by a public hearing prior to a second and final vote on the Budget.
Mayor Howell Wayne Todd said the new budget was basically the same as the current year with a projected $10,000 increase in revenues and a projected $1,400 increase in expenditures.
Todd said “We have to manage our funds very carefully, for we actually have no control over our revenue. Our primary source of revenue is the local sales tax. We have some tremendous businesses in town whose retail sales contribute to our revenue stream, and naturally, we are grateful for that.”
The General Fund Budget for 2025-26 is $251,393 supported by projected revenues of $270,000.
Mayor Todd said he was happy to note that the Wastewater Budget has begun to show a positive balance at year end.
“The aldermen and I have worked hard for a few years to manage the Wastewater Fund and remove us from the sanctions by the Comptroller’s Office in Nashville. We are not allowed to operate the fund with a negative year end balance, and a failure to make proper adjustments will result in the Comptroller mandating adjustments,” Todd said.
In addition to adopting the 2025-26 Budget, the final current year budget of $250,393 was approved. Due to not having a May meeting, the financial reports for both April and May were approved.
Final approval was given to a Memorandum of Understanding between the City and the County on behalf of the new Carroll County Fire Department.
Todd said “The County has formed a new county-wide fire department, and the new department is negotiating agreements with local volunteer fire departments for the use of their facilities. Our fire department is located in the same building as City Hall, and we had to ensure that our lease gave us proper access to the space on special occasions.”
Mayor Todd reported to the aldermen that after months of waiting, our vendor notified us that the necessary equipment to repair the school caution lights had arrived.
“We have literally been waiting on these repair parts for well over a year. With only one supplier used by TDOT, anytime there was a storm elsewhere, our order was delayed in order to meet emergency orders. It has been frustrating,” Todd said. “I hope the wait for installation isn’t as long as for delivery of the repair parts.”
He also reported that the new radar speed signs which have not been working properly are under warranty and will be repaired.
Todd, obviously frustrated, commented “I can only hope it doesn’t take as long as it did for the school caution lights.”
The trees in the City Park need attention, and approval was given for the City Recorder to prepare a request for proposals from interested vendors to properly prune and cleanup the problem areas. Finally, the Mayor discussed alternative means of communicating with property owners who fail to accept certified mail detailing a requirement to clean up their property.
The next regular meeting of the Mayor and Aldermen is July 28 at 6 p.m.
