PINEHURST -— The Village of Pinehurst Council met Tuesday, Feb. 27, approving a fiscal 2024 mid-year budget amendment to the general fund.
“I met with the managers and department heads to come up with our revenue and expenditure projections for the remainder of this fiscal year, FY24,” Financial Services Director Dana Van Nostrand told the board. “We’re estimating that our expenditures will exceed the revenues by approximately $541,000. If that is the year end result, we would be drawing down from fund balance, but our original budget for FY24 anticipated us having to draw $600,000 from fund balance, so we have had some improvement compared to that original budget.”
According to Nostrand, the expenditures are being primarily driven by a $1.9 million reappropriation related to projects that were incomplete as of the end of last fiscal year.
These reappropriations were already covered by fund balance when they were approved and the Village will have projected savings of $914,000 for salaries and benefits and $410,000 from other operating expenditures that will help to offset the reappropriation costs.
“In total, the ordinance is increasing revenues by about $750,000, reducing expenditures by $210,000 and reducing our fund balance appropriated by $960,000,” Van Nostrand said.
The council also passed three resolutions honoring former mayor, John Strickland, and former council members Jane Hogeman and Tom Hennie, for their service to Pinehurst.
“It was a great honor and a privilege to be the mayor of Pinehurst from 2019 to 2023 and for about a decade before that, to be involved in other Village government committees and commissions,” Strickland said. “I certainly look forward to following the work of the staff, Village council and the mayor into the future and I wish everything in good success.”
“It was a privilege to serve this Village where the issues are so important and our passion runs so deep,” Hennie said.
“I had the privilege of working with Jane for four years until her untimely death last July and the privilege of working with some of her family since that time in helping them through the process and remembering Jane at the same time,” Strickland said.
Village Manager Jeff Morgan also reported the retirement of Assistant Village Manager Jeff Batton effective May 31.
“He’s wrapping up 36 years of experience in local government. 29 of those years have been here with the Village of Pinehurst. 20 of those 29 years have been as the Assistant Village Manager. I think more than any other person, he is the face of our Village staff. Jeff’s really going to be missed but I can tell you we are uniformly excited and happy for him and we’re also grateful for the leadership and teamwork that he has provided to us over the years.”
The Village of Pinehurst Council will next meet March 12.
