Main Street discusses proposed budget

The proposed budget for the 2016-2017 budget year and the Christmas ornaments were discussed at the August Main Street Thermopolis meeting.

Treasurer Meri Ann Rush presented the proposed budget for 2016-2017.

“With our income, we had quite a bit of sponsorship last year and hopefully we’ll have that again this year,” she said. “We are going to split some of the sponsorship to work on it. I was conservative on the income part.”

With expenses, Rush said she added some that they had not submitted when they applied for Technical Assistance funds such as the Christmas decorations and the Christmas ornaments.

“I plugged figures in there because the Christmas decorations last year were really expensive,” she said. “When we did the Christmas ornaments, we initially thought that they were going to be refunded and they were not.”

Rush said they can change anything in the budget as it is just the proposed budget, and she would attempt to answer any questions the board may have.

Board member Dan Herdt asked if the numbers were good for budgeting.

Rush said the first year is always harder than the next year, as there will be more pros added.

“What I’ll do next month is add another column, which a be our actual budget that we’ve spent since July 1, so we can see where we’re at,” she said. “That way, for instance, the ArtStroll maps, if we’re getting to the end of our fiscal year and it’s more than that $300 I have budgeted, we’ll have to fundraise.”

The proposed budget was approved by the board.

The board also discussed the Christmas ornaments.

Rush said the total bill for the Christmas ornaments for an order of 100 was $1,450.

Secretary Shurie Scheel said the number of ornaments was less than they ordered last year.

Board member Deb Tudor said they had ordered 125 ornaments last year.

Rush said they ordered 75 but then ordered 50 more. The company wanted the board to pay half down for the ornaments, but she said she thinks they should just pay it and not have to worry.

Scheel asked when they should expect the ornaments to arrive because she was hoping to have them by Oktobrewfest. She said she thought they would not receive them before Oktobrewfest, but said they could do presales.

The board received a sample ornament, that will hopefully help with presales, Scheel said. She also said that she and Rush made one change to the ornament. On the back, the ornament will give the address of the building because some people may not be able to identify it.

Scheel asked if anyone had a list of people who bought ornaments last year.

Tudor said she still had her list.

President Suzanne Samelson asked if any were sold at Oktobrewfest last year.

Scheel said they did sell some, but not very many. She said since they have a physical ornament to show people what it will look like, she is hoping they will be able to sell more this year. Scheel said everyone should also make and keep lists of who buys them this year.

The price of the ornaments will be $30 each and $25 each for businesses.