Berlin welcomes new council member, approves budget for FY 2022

Benjamin Bullard, The Cullman Times, Ala.
·2 min read

Sep. 21—BERLIN — Berlin leaders addressed one of the town's two council vacancies Monday, appointing longtime resident James Sanford to fill the council's Place 2 seat.

The seat was recently vacated after former council member Jimbo Quick resigned his position because of a change in residence that places him outside the town's corporate limits — a qualifying necessity to serve on the council.

Sanford was appointed by a unanimous roll-call vote of the three council members as well as mayor Patrick Bates. The council still must fill a second vacancy, opened by the death of Place 3 council member Bruce Bentley, who passed away on Sept. 3.

Sanford said this will be his first experience with public service, though he'll rely on a long career background in accounting to quickly get himself up to speed.

"It's my first time doing this, but I've been here [in Berlin] for 40 years, more or less," he said. "I was controller for 30 years with American Proteins, so I have a little bit of experience in financial matters. I'm honored to have the opportunity to serve."

Sanford was sworn in immediately after his appointment, leaving him free to vote alongside his new colleagues as the council adopted the town's new budget for the upcoming 2021-2022 fiscal year, which begins on Nov. 1.

Thanks to a surge in town revenues, the new budget has grown substantially from its current-year predecessor, with an FY 2022 General Fund of just more than $200,000 — well above the estimated $140,000 General Fund budget the council approved a year ago.

"We grossly underestimated our revenues when we did our current year's budget, because we were concerned about what might happen with the Census, as well as COVID emerging. But we actually ended up hitting around 167 percent of our anticipated revenues for 2021," Bates explained.

"Sales tax revenues in Cullman County are at record levels all across the board; they actually didn't go down during the pandemic year," he added. "We're a lot more confident about the numbers for the coming year, since the Census numbers are now in and we have a better idea of how revenues were affected by the pandemic."