for Thorp in 2021, down 1.1 percent or $3,982 in total town finances. Meanwhile, the application of a cash balance totaling $8,095 is due to bring the township out ahead from last year’s funding sources to the tune of $4,113 or $357,267 total in the budget fund balance. No cash balance was applied to the 2020 budget for a boost. Meanwhile, what comes in, trickles out, as the expenses side of the ledger shows.

Starting out the Thorp accounts payable side of the register, “General Government” is due to cost Thorp taxpayers $55,000, up $1,000 from 2020. Public safety is due to cost $17,065 and public works is budgeted at $188,536, both of which represent decreases in spending from the year previous.

At the same time, Thorp residents are being asked to make their own fun it seems, as $0 is dedicated in the town budget to “Culture, Recreation, and Education,” along with $0 for bridges, $500 for “Conservation and Development” (unchanged), and grader expenses shifted back to 2020, with $28,000 in the “Machine Fund” for 2020 but $0 for 2021. Meanwhile, don’t forget debt service!

Starting out the township debts is a Road Maintenance loan for $42,866, representing an unchanged payment from last year, while a “Patrol Loan” for $42,800 plus $8,000 for “Recycling and Garbage” brings the total Town of Thorp expenditures for 2021 to $357,267, or a total 1.1 percent increase in total spending from the year before. But while “patrol” refers in reality to the town road crew rather than law enforcement, one thing is for sure: plowing snow across driveways, leads to fines, and ice ridge hazards for local drivers.