Stansbury Park's tentative $665,805 budget for 2008 spreads the spending around much more evenly than in past years, according to Stansbury Service Agency trustees.

"I think this is the most balanced budget that I've seen in the archives of the Service Agency," said trustee John O'Donnell at the Stansbury Service Agency meeting and public hearing Wednesday night. "Wherever you live in Stansbury Park, I think your needs are met."

In past years, the agency has admittedly pooled more money for different projects in the park.

"We always put money where the greatest need is," trustee Randy Jones said, adding that the agency has been putting money into boosting failing infrastructure for the past several years.

Now that much of that infrastructure has been upgraded, Jones said there is more money and fewer large projects this year.

"This year there was just more money to spread around," Jones said.

Payroll and employment costs remain the biggest expense, totaling $294,292 -- 44.2 percent of the budget.

Maintenance costs for the greenbelt ($50,000), lake ($31,000), and parks ($20,000) totaled $101,000 -- 15.2 percent of the budget. The agency also plans to spend $25,000 on clubhouse maintenance and repair, and another $15,000 on swimming pool maintenance and repair.

Most of the money spent on the lake will go toward combating the problem of algae proliferation.

"For years we've been trying to control plant growth [in the lake]," Jones said.

This past year, the agency experimented with a blue dye that makes the water less translucent, reducing the penetration of sunlight and curtailing plant growth.

"We experimented last year and this year we decided to go full blast," Jones said, adding that as an expense figured into the lake maintenance budget.

The agency is also putting a lot money back into the golf course.

"We've made an agreement with the lessee of the golf course that we'll match whatever he decides to put into it for maintenance up to $25,000," Jones said.

Greenbelt money will largely be used to repair grass sections on Village Boulevard that was damaged during a road widening, and cleaning up the Stansbury Parkway entrance to make it more aesthetically pleasing.

"We're also updating our sprinkling system so that it is a water conservation system," Jones said.

The service agency generates most of its revenues -- $503,805, or 75.7 percent of its budget -- from general property taxes. The remainder of the revenues come from miscellaneous taxes, fees and leases.

jamieb@tooeletranscript.com