CMBRG explains $78,912 in village account

By LeAnn R. Ralph

COLFAX  —  While it is true that the village account containing $78,912 for the village hall at one time contained money belonging to the Colfax Municipal Building Restoration Group, that is no longer the case.

At one time, the account contained $105,000, of which $50,000 was village money and $55,000 belonged to CMBRG, said Joan Scharlau, president of CMBRG.

The account was put into an interest-bearing account at First Bank and Trust, and interest and donations were made to the village that brought the village’s portion of the account up to the $78,912, she said.

The village set aside $25,000 for the account on September 1, 1999, and set aside another $25,000 on November 17, 1999, Scharlau noted.

The $50,000, Scharlau said, was set aside by the village for the purpose of restoring the basement of the Colfax Municipal Building.

The basement of the municipal building has been plagued with water infiltration problems for almost 20 years. As recently as a few weeks ago, there was standing water on the basement floor that was photographed by Lisa Ludwig, director of the Colfax Public Library.

All together, CMBRG paid $100,800 for the electrical update to the Colfax Municipal Building.

From 1999 to 2004, CMBRG made deposits to the account of $55,654.66, according to a report Scharlau provided for the Colfax Village Board’s meeting packet.

After the interest was added and the disbursements subtracted, the amount left in the account belonging to the CMBRG was $38,558.96, which was designated by the restoration group for the electrical update. On March 25, 2013, CMBRG also paid the village the balance for the electrical work of $62,241.04, according to the report.

All of the money that had at one time been deposited into the account by CMBRG has been disbursed to the restoration group, Scharlau said.

CMBRG has no claim to the money in the account containing $78,912, she said.