Eldred Township supervisors passed the budget Wednesday night with no new tax increase.

The real estate taxes will remain at 1.45 mills, which is 14.5 cents of each $100 of assessed value of the property.

The Fire Protection tax is 0.25 mills or 2.5 cents of each $100 of assessed value, and the Road Equipment tax is 0.25 mills or 2.5 cents of each $100 of assessed value. The total of the three is 1.95 mills.

Mary Anne Clausen, a representative of the Open Spaces Committee, asked the supervisors to revisit the budget in January and give the Open Spaces Committee more money. The purpose of the Open Spaces Committee is to come up with ideas to improve the township’s parks and open spaces.

Clausen thinks that since the township has been supplemented with money from the American Rescue Plan’s Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds, there is enough money elsewhere in the township’s revenue to increase the amount allotted to the committee. The money from the coronavirus fund can only be spent on specific fiscal recovery needs in a municipality.

“We have all of this money for the fire company, all of this money for trucks and a huge fund balance, and all the board can come up with is $114 for parks over what it has to pay for parks,” she said.

Clausen is referring to a portion of money set aside for parks via a recreation fee from the Dollar General development, which hasn’t broken ground yet.

“I think the budget, I think perhaps it wasn’t looked at with this perspective, but I do think that this budget is kind of skewed and I don’t think that it reflects the potential that the township’s really truly wonderful park properties have. And I don’t think this budget also acknowledges the importance that those properties have for the township,” she said.

The budget has allotted $8,200 for Parks and Recreation, but $4,000 of that falls under salaries and wages for the Public Works Department for park maintenance. This leaves $1,200 for maintenance supplies and materials and $3,000 for parks development and improvement.

The 2021 budget allotted for $1,000 for salaries and wages. The estimated actual cost is $3,000. That budget also set aside $1,200 for maintenance supplies and materials and $3,000 for parks development and improvement.

The 2020 budget did not set aside any money for salaries and wages under Parks and Recreation for the Public Works Department. The actual costs from that year were $909.81 for maintenance supplies and materials and $4,577.61 for parks development and improvement. It’s not clear if any of the funds were used for salaries and wages for the Public Works Department.

Clausen said she thinks it was a good idea for the township to set up the special taxes for road equipment and the fire department, but there isn’t enough in the budget for parks. She didn’t suggest that a tax be created for parks, just more funds allotted to it.

“Just looking at the fund balance, for goodness’ sakes, it seems to me you can give us another $5,000 bucks,” she said.

Gary Hoffman, the chairman of the supervisors, said the priorities of the township are to provide safe roads and emergency services. That said, the supervisors were willing to look at the budget further in the new year.