Columbus City Council approved the city’s 2021 budget on its second reading Tuesday night.
One of the items in the 2021 budget is $176,000 in the city council’s budget that will go toward paying for golf expenses based on invoices from the Columbus Parks and Recreation Department. This will allow the department to keep both Greenbelt and Par 3 open for another year.
City finance director Jamie Brinegar said at Tuesday’s meeting that the original plan was to fund golf through the council’s budget and then transfer the funds over to the parks department in January. However, the plan had to be changed due to guidance that city clerk-treasurer LuAnn Welmer received from the state.
“LuAnn checked with the State Board of Accounts, and they would prefer that we not do that, but that we maintain the funds within the council’s budget,” he said. “Parks and recreation, in their non-reverting budget, will budget for their 200s and 300s of golf. We will then pay through those invoices, as they come in, out of city council.”
