Eatonton Downtown Development Authority and Eatonton Mainstreet have separate boards and each has its own budget, but the two joined for a retreat to discuss mutual goals Feb. 7.

Partial fiscal year budgets – January through August 2013 – were presented at the retreat. Shelagh Fagan, chairwoman of the Mainstreet board, said the budgets should be approved by the boards’ members at their next meetings.

The DDA is funded entirely by the City of Eatonton; Mainstreet is funded by the DDA, the county, and profits from events, according to the budget summaries presented.

Fagan did not expound on details in the two budgets, saying she would “gloss over it” because they had not been approved yet.

The DDA received $80,000 from the city for the eight-month period, and Fagan said “we’ve been doling it out.”

Fagan said the money doesn’t roll over each year – DDA “starts out with zero every year,” she said.

The largest expense listed on the budget summary presented for DDA is its payment to Mainstreet; it will provide $23,571 of Mainstreet’s funding in two installments through August.

The second largest – $12,000 – is earmarked for grant writing and administration fees paid to consultants, and $10,000 is listed for “part-time DDA project management.”

“We need money to get the grants for the second phase of the parking lot and event space,” Fagan reminded the board.

Mainstreet’s budget for the eight months is $43,371. In addition to the DDA money, $5,000 came from the county, $3,500 from promotions and events, and $300 from miscellaneous income.

An additional $11,000 is listed as “transferred from cash assets.”

Expenses include wages at $23,413; operating expenses of $8,158 – including rent, accounting fees, travel expenses and supplies; $3,000 for downtown beautification; $2,000 for façade grants and renderings; $5,500 for promotions committee expenses, including $3,000 for the Briarpatch Arts Festival; and $750 in organization committee expenses.