GALENA — After a public hearing for the budget where no members of the public attended, Mayor John Carroll and the Galena Town Council on Monday night passed the ordinance to their fiscal year 2025 budget.
The total allocations divided between fund categories: General, $553,250; Sewer, $342,246; and Water, $173,675 — for a combined total of $1,069,171 matched their total income for a balanced budget.
The town budget includes a tax revenue of $258,000, alongside $76,678 in receivables for utilities.
The property tax rate, Carroll said, remains set at .0222 per $100 of assessed value. There was no increase in taxes, no increase for additional fees, water or in trash and recycling.
Town Attorney Tom Yeager reminded the council they were passing the ordinance to pass the budget.
Ultimately, they approved of ordinance 2024-01FY-25 Budget.
Also during this budget session, the town embarked for the first time in investing. They decided to take some money out of their savings and place it in an interest bearing certificate of deposit account.
Financial and Administrative Clerk Marisa Pisapia, while bringing up various line items, got the attention of the council about this. Once they scoured places to invest they chose to secure their investment with PNC Bank for eight months at a 4.65% interest rate.
Council member Sarah Merrell made it official.
“I make a motion to authorize doing a CD out of our water savings account,” she said.
The motion passed unanimously.
Carroll detailed the next step in the process. Right before they leave for the Maryland Municipal League June 23 — 26 in Ocean City, they’ll meet with someone from PNC Bank. From there they’ll set up an account to get things in motion.
As a first, reiterated Carroll, “we’re dipping our toes in it.”
In other financial matters, Grants Coordinator and Tech Support Grant Audrey Erschen talked about the various grants she’s been working on.
She received notification their Teen Play Area was included in the State of Maryland’s FY2025 Budget, and must be approved by the Maryland Board of Public Works. The grant was for climbing equipment and installation.
They were not awarded this year on their No Gym, Think Outside Application, but she’ll try again next year.
And in the tech department, she was informed they would not have to replace their Quick Books until 2026 — a relief for the council.
Maintenance and Facilities Coordinator Warren Walters had updates of his own particularly concerning the wastewater treatment plant. They had removed 42.55 tons of sludge in 2024, with a total cost of $2,957.24. Total effluent gallons (liquid waste or sewage discharged) discharged were 3,873,000 and daily average effluent gallons were 25,463.
Carroll who wanted to get a general idea, said, “It looks like we’re averaging 25,000 gallons or so. That’s what I wanted to see, where we’re truly at. I want to know what our capacity is always. And when it fluctuates during a certain point of time.”
Walters, working with Erschen, said his goal going ahead is in mitigation procedures, aiming to reduce the production of methane and leachate that can contaminate surface waters. This process involves managing wastewater at its source, which can include water conservation and recycling.
Walters is in conversations with the Environmental Protection Agency, so the town possibly won’t have to spend money on the mitigation process. Carroll thought that a good idea, and mentioned that he’s been talking with the University of Maryland Finance Center too. The idea is once they have their survey complete, they’ll open up the conversation even more.
“We can attack it from both angles,” Carroll said, “state and federal.”
After hearing updates on all departments, Yeager commended the council on their work.
Carroll noted the completion of the budget was a team effort.
The Galena Town Council’s next meeting will be on Monday, July 1. See more information at townofgalena.com.
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