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Draft Sylva budget does not include tax increase
By Justin Goble
Though next year’s proposed budget for Sylva includes a new voluntary recycling program and cost of living increase for employees, town leaders will hold the line on taxes.
Town Manager Jay Denton proposed the $2.11 million budget to board members last Thursday (May 26) during a work session.
According to Vice Mayor Maurice Moody, who presided in the absence of Mayor Brenda Oliver, the board should be ready to have a public hearing on the budget at its June 15 meeting.
Denton said he is hoping to have the budget online prior to that meeting; the town’s Web site is www.townofsylva.org.
The proposed budget, includes $10,000 for the new recycling program. Though initially projected to cost $20,000, Denton said the town would be able to hire another part-time worker and outfit town vehicles for half that amount.
Also included are numerous increases for town employees: a 2.5 percent increase for cost-of-living expenses; a 2.5 percent merit increase; and a salary match of up to 5 percent to the town’s 401k plan.
Despite the added expenditures, property taxes will remain 42 cents per $100 valuation. According to Denton, raising taxes will not be necessary to fund recycling and staff pay increases because of money left over from the current fiscal year. Many departments had unspent funds that could be rolled over into the new budget, he said.
In addition, Denton said his proposed budget will likely exceed actual expenditures.
“I didn’t want to under-estimate how much the budget was going to be,” he said.
New to this year’s budget is a line item covering community contributions. Along with giving money to the library and other organizations, the town board annually contributes $20,000 to the Downtown Sylva Association (formerly SPIR) and more than $8,000 to the county’s Economic Development Commission.
“This lets you see how much you’re giving and who you are giving it to,” Denton said.
Denton said he would pull $22,538 from the town’s revolving loan fund to finance the DSA request in full and part of the EDC contribution.
“Those are two economic development committees,” Denton said. “That’s what the revolving loan funds are for.”
The proposed budget includes:
– Sylva Police Department’s allocation of $793,359.72 includes funds to replace three patrol cars. This is part of the department’s scheduled vehicle rotation.
– A new facilities maintenance line item was created to pay the costs of keeping up town buildings. In the proposed budget, $25,847 has been allocated.
– Planning and code enforcment was allocated $90,839.94. Part of this will be used to replace Planning Director Jim Aust’s computer system.
Denton asked board members to look over the new budget and bring suggestions to the board meeting tonight (Thursday) at 7 p.m. Another budget work session is a part of this meeting’s agenda.
The town’s finance committee has a meeting set for 10 a.m. on Monday, June 5, at town hall to discuss the budget.
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