The village of Innsbrook’s $178,000 budget for the next 12 months includes money to acquire land for a new village hall and continued payments for a 2013 road project that will be paid off in 2023.

The village anticipates about $179,000 in revenue for its 2021-2022 fiscal year, mostly from sales tax, real estate tax and Missouri’s motor fuel tax. Innsbrook is also starting the year with $597,000 in the bank that is not budgeted for spending.

Board of Trustees Chairman Jeff Thomsen said the village board is always conscious not spending more than the village takes in, and keeping expenses low in order to minimize taxes.

This year’s budget includes about $60,000 to purchase property for construction of a new village hall. Thomsen said the village board is in negotiation to purchase a piece of land off of Highway M from Innsbrook Corporation.

Thomsen explained that the village government needs to move to a new hall because the current facility, a repurposed old house on Highway F, is becoming unsuitable for use.

“The building has gotten decrepit over the years. There’s a mold problem in the crawl space, there’s settlement problems, there’s bad drainage problems, and in the winter there’s ice everywhere,” Thomsen said.

Current plans for the new village hall are for it to have about the same size footprint as the old hall, but a much better usage of space by being purpose-built as an office instead of having things like an old, unneeded garage, Thomsen said.

Over the years, Innsbrook has accumulated a sizeable surplus of funds that are approaching $600,000. The village board is examining the best use of that funding, including putting it toward the new village hall, Thomsen said. The village is also examining a low-interest mortgage through USDA Rural Development to help finance the hall project.

In the village’s transportation fund, about $22,500 is budgeted for annual payments to the Missouri Transportation Finance Corporation, repaying the cost of a 2013 project to install gravel shoulders along Highway F, which is a state roadway. The village government split the cost of improvements with the Missouri Department of Transportation.

All of the money for that project comes from Missouri’s motor fuel tax. The project is scheduled to be paid off in 2023. Once that’s done, Thomsen said the village board will have to find a new use for almost $23,000 per year in transportation funding. That might be trickier than it sounds, because the village government doesn’t actually own any of the roadways within the village, Thomsen explained.

Also factored into this year’s budget is a slight increase to pay and expenses for Village Administrator Carla Ayala, the village’s only employee. The total budget for employee expense this year is $53,700, up from $51,9476.