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Webster’s proposed budget holds line on taxes, keeps 8-cent tax rate
By Justin Goble
Webster leaders are considering a $68,200 budget for the 2008-09 fiscal year.
Officials discussed the budget during a work session Monday (June 9). The $68,200 figure comes from an 8-cent per $100 tax valuation – the same tax rate as last year.
Town leaders were given the option of going with the current millage rate or lowering it to 7 cents. Mayor Steve Gray said he’d calculated balanced budgets based on both tax rates.
Town board member Neal Morgan said that, with land prices skyrocketing after this year’s revaluation, reducing the tax rate would help the town’s residents.
“We have to think about the taxpayers,” he said. “I think it’s in their best interests to take it down to 7 cents.”
That suggestion met with resistance from board member Billie Jo Bryson, who said she thought the tax rate should stay at 8 cents.
“What we pay the fire department goes up every year, and we need to plan for that,” she said. “We need money to spend on town hall renovations as well. A lot of people have wanted us to raise taxes. I think if we leave it the way it is, that will make them happy.”
Gray agreed, saying what the town has contracted to pay the Sylva Fire Department for fire protection will increase significantly next year.
In the proposed budget, officials have set aside $13,948 to pay for fire protection. That rate of 4 cents per $100 property valuation was set before this year’s property revaluation took place.
With the new land values in effect, Gray said the fire protection total will go up to more than $21,000 next year.
“If we drop it down to 7 cents, we’re just going to have to raise it back next year to pay the fire department,” he said.
“I just know a lot of people are going to ask why we have it in the budget this year to pay for something next year,” Morgan said.
Despite those objections, board members by consensus agreed to keep the tax rate at 8 cents.
Officials had expected revenues in this year’s budget to be around $2,550 higher. However, the town has yet to receive a cable franchise payment from Mediacom so Gray excluded it from this year’s budget. The $2,550 could be added to the $15,000 set aside for town hall improvements if the money is forthcoming, he said.
Other proposed expenditures include $6,900 for law enforcement patrols, $5,500 for an audit and other accounting services, $4,000 in attorney fees and $3,500 for the Tuckaseigee Water and Sewer Authority.
Town leaders will hold a public hearing on the budget next Thursday, June 26, at 6 p.m. in town hall and plan a special meeting at the conclusion of the hearing when a vote on the budget is likely to be held.
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