A Year in Review
By Jack Hagedorn
The duties of the Finance Department consists of receipting revenue, accounts payable, collection of taxes, bookkeeping for all funds, investment of Township monies, and preparing reports for the Township auditors and State.
The Township receives money from many sources, including taxes, permits and fees, state revenue sharing, developer
deposits, water and sewer payments, dog license payments, hall rental, rental registration, assessment payments and various miscellaneous incomes. We continually monitor investment opportunities for these funds. In 2007, our return on
investment average 6.47%, which is higher than it has been for several years. The additional income on investments helped offset some of the state shared revenue the General Fund lost.
We are responsible for twelve separate funds, each of which has its own accounting. In 2007, we sent out 2,002 checks for a total of $5.96 million for all of the funds. These funds include the General Fund, Library Special Projects Fund, Building Department Fund, Fire Department Special Projects Fund, Cemetery Improvement Fund, Historical Society, Library Building Debt Fund, two DDA Funds, Water and Sewer Fund, Revolving Fund and Road Fund.
In 2007, there was a significant increase in the amount of tax dollars we collected as can be seen in the chart below. There are two main reasons for that change. First, the Ottawa Area Intermediate School District was successful in getting a 1.3141 millage increase in 2007.
Secondly, the Township had a significant increase in taxable value, primarily due to growth around the University.
Allendale Charter Township property owners consistently pay their taxes on time, 2007 was no exception. By the end of the collection period, we had received payment of 94.4% of the taxes billed. We also issued 553 dog licenses in 2007.
The Finance Department performs the above described functions with less staff hours than we had 5 years ago. We are able to do that because we have taken advantage of educational
opportunities to help us improve our procedures and because new and more efficient computer software is being used.
If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to call Jack Hagedorn at 895-6295, ext. 3.
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