BERRIEN SPRINGS PASSED FINANCIAL AUDIT

BERRIEN SPRINGS – Berrien Springs village finances are in good shape, auditors told officials recently.
The St. Joseph-based Plante & Moran firm conducted the village’s audit of financial records for the 2016-17 fiscal year that ended June 30. Firm auditor Owen Ronk presented the audit findings to village officials.
Ronk said his firm gave the village an “unmodified” clean opinion. “That is accounting language for a good opinion,” he said. “This year saw a stable decrease in the village’s net position but your net position is still very healthy.”
He noted that the village’s decrease in its net position was “pretty small” and not a concern “by any means.” He said governmental activities decreased by less than one percent while enterprise “business” activities such as the sewage treatment plant decreased by around two percent because of extra expenses.
The village’s general fund ended up with a $63,042 surplus after transfers in and out. Revenue ended up at $987,634, up from the budgeted amount of $951,790. Expenditures ended up at $817,592, down from the budgeted $951,790. The fund balance increased from $1.52 million at the start of the year to $1.58 million at the end.
General fund revenue of more than $970,000 comes from a variety of sources with around half coming from local property taxes. The current 2017-18 budget calls for $452,978 coming in from local property taxes followed by $167,155 coming from state shared revenue.
General fund expenditures came in several areas from the village president and clerk departments to fire protection, public works, ordinance enforcement and capital purchases. $75,000 is set aside in the current budget for the fire department, while $96,305 is set aside for the clerk’s office and $103,875 for administration.
Highlights of the 2016-17 year ending June 30 included the Julius Street reconstruction and Kephart Lane resurfacing projects, the Shamrock Park river dredging and restoration, work on two water wells, the interior repainting of the water tower and equipment purchases.
People can find more information about the village’s finances at their website, www.villageofberriensprings.com. The village’s “dashboard” gives residents the chance to look inside the village’s financial records with information gathered about the budgets and other items.
For example, people can find a list of the village’s outstanding bonds and loans for water, sewer and road infrastructure projects. The village has a total of $13.09 million in bonds and loans on the books and have paid off $2.29 million to date with $10.8 million remaining.
The dashboard also includes community information in a number of areas. Residents can see how general fund expenditures have changed over time on a per capita basis, the status of the village’s pension fund and any unfunded liabilities.
The village saw the estimated median household income rise from 2015 to 2016 from $48,047 to $56,583 and the median house value go up from $150,000 to $175,236. The village’s population stayed stable at 1,800 people.
In the area of public safety, the number of violent crimes went down from six to three from 2015 to 2016, while the number of police arrests went up from 113 to 130. The number of incident complaints investigated went down from 1,515 to 1,312.
Quality of life items are also listed in the dashboard, including the amount of money committed to parks and recreation programs, the amount of money spent on roads and infrastructure projects. The percentage amount spent on parks and recreation stayed the same while the amount spent on roads and infrastructure went up.
The village has 32.78 acres of parks per 1,000 residents. That figure includes the village-owned Shamrock Park campground.