Afton July 4 celebration’s cost blasted

Talk about it

Afton’s Fourth of July celebration cost more than double what was budgeted, and some residents aren’t happy about it.

That was the message coming out of the city’s meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 19.

Resident Kuchen Meyer used the public comment portion of the meeting to ask for a financial breakdown of this year’s parade and other festivities.

When fellow resident Claire Eisinger, who previously sat on the Fourth of July organizing committee, heard that the cost of the day had overshot the budget figure of $2,500 by at least $2,700, she made her views known.

“How can you go over budget?” she asked. “For over 30 years you held us to the last penny… If we went over budget, we had to go outside for donations to make it up.

“You as a council went over-budget, and you are going to go to your coffers to pay for it.”

Mayor Julia Welter, who played a large part in coordinating this year’s parade, said it was a difficult situation.

“I don’t know how we would have got donations when I couldn’t even get volunteers coming forward to help on the parade,” she added.

Tags: afton, fourth, july, meyer, news, celebration, budget, welter, eisinger