Meeting for November, the Taft town board approved its 2021 budget for a total of $161,875, with revenues and expenditures as follows.

Starting out with a tax levy of $39,560, town finances are further enlarged by $2,000 in projected taxes for Managed Forest Land (MFL). Governmental Revenues are set for 2021 at $116,060, a drop of $7,155 from the year previous. Meanwhile, Licenses and Permits were projected to rise by $55 in town revenues, coming out for 2021 at $355 from $300 the year previous. Public Charges for Service and Interest are projected to rise as well, with service charges accounting for $350 in revenue in the 2021 Taft budget, and Interest for $350 as well. Miscellaneous revenues are set to remain the same at $100, while cash reserves come out to $3,100, down from $7,500 in 2020. There are no bridge aid or special assessment revenues listed in the budget for either 2021 or the year prior. All told the town budget will be $161,875, down 1.8 percent from the $164,873 budget in 2020.

Meanwhile on the flip side for expenditures, General Government expenses in Taft are set to cost a full 96.6 percent of the town’s tax levy, with a figure of $38,226 being budgeted in. The Social Security will cost $2,200 over the next year, while $18,752 is budgeted to Public Safety.

As to public Works spending there is a split in the town budget, with $95,547 set aside for Highways and Wages, with another $6,200 set aside for uliities and recycling.

Closing out the township expenditures are $600 in budgeted cemetery expenses, $250 in interest payments, and $100 in general town expense, with nothing for contingency a drop of $15,100 from the year previous.

Last but not least, the budget figures include $47,170.79 reserved in the Fire District Fund, with $36,659.06 reported in the Highway reconditioning Fund and $14,594.60 in Equipment Fund Savings for Taft town finances.

In the meantime if you’ve ever wanted to dip your toe into local town politics, now is your time. Area townships are getting ready to nominate candidates for the April 6, 2021 Spring elections, with those serving enlisted for a two-year term. A nominating caucus for Taft will be held sometime in January, with other townships doing likewise. Why not get your name in the paper and some free publicity and/or public criticism? Your future ancestors searching for their roots online will be glad you did, if only for the newsprint proof