The Budget Workshop Is Online

“It’s a system, and as with any system, you can learn it,” said Cathy Anderson at the end of her seminar on Village budgetry last evening, which was attended by seven denizens of the Frankfort-Elberta complex. You can view and hear her talk at this link. This is the first in a series of events that the Elberta Heritage Center will be hosting on civic engagement.

Anderson said her next talk may be on the General Law Village Act. There will probably be a different host and topic in the series next time — Anderson’s talk last night, as you will see in the YouTube link, was detailed, informative, and well-organized, and she said delivering one of these per quarter is enough for her. I found it incredibly useful, and I really wish I’d watched something like this before or during my time as a council member. Better late than never, I guess.

During her talk, Anderson strongly encouraged members of the public who have questions about this year’s draft Village budget to submit them in writing to the office ahead of Thursday’s budget hearing if you haven’t already done so. You can email the clerk at clerk@villageofelberta.com. The deadline for your letter to be included in the council packet was this past Friday at noon (see the meeting rules), but you can still give the trustees and budget committee a bit of a heads up to have answers ready for you at the meeting. I’m putting together an email now and I may post it here later today.

February 8, 2026

When: Sunday, February 15, 5:30 pm–7 pm

Where: Elberta Heritage Center, 704 Frankfort Avenue, Elberta

You may have heard that the Elberta Village Council will be holding a public hearing on the draft 2026–27 Budget at 6:30 on Thursday, February 19, and will shortly afterward vote on that budget at the 7 pm meeting.

If you’re like me, you keep track of your expenses and maybe have a household budget that you sort of stick to, and you amend your budget once at the beginning of each year (I’m not saying this is the way to do it) and the first time you saw the Village budget you were like whhaaaaaaat. Presented by Cathy Anderson, this workshop will help residents understand how to read the budget, where the money comes from, and where it is allocated for the upcoming fiscal year.

How are staff salaries spread over different departments? What is an equipment payback? Where does grant money go? These and other matters will be explained. The workshop will not be a critique or analysis of this year’s salaries or costs, just a general discussion of how to understand a municipal budget. Anderson can answer a lot of your questions on the whys and hows, and how the structure of the budget relates to local and State laws and regulations.

Copies of the budget are available at the Village of Elberta website. You can print and bring your own copy, but there will also be plenty of paper copies on hand for those without a printer. This workshop will help you if you’ve thought about running for Council or volunteering your time on a commission or the Village Budget Grant Finance and Audit Committee (which currently does not have an Elberta resident member who’s not staff or a trustee).

Cathy Anderson lives in Elberta and served as Elberta Village Clerk and as a member of the Village Budget, Grant, Finance, and Audit Committee.

Caf and decaf coffee and various teas will be provided.