By Kirk Ross
Staff Writer
The Carrboro Board of Aldermen received twin budget proposals Tuesday night, one with no tax increase and another with a plan for raising the tax rate by 2.86 cents, a hike of slightly more than 4.5Â percent.
In presenting his proposal, Town Manager Steve Stewart noted that the town has avoided a tax increase three out of the last four years.
“As you know, I am very concerned about our property tax burden,†Stewart said. With an eye on the overall tax burden, including county and school district taxes, he wanted to keep any increase in the town’s rate low and also provide a no-increase option.
The town’s current tax rate is 62.4 cents per 100 dollar valuation. An increase to 65.3 would add about $57 to the annual tax bill for a home valued at $200,000.
Driving the budget this year are slight increases in sales tax and property tax revenue. The property tax base grew 2.9 percent, an increase of $100,099 to the town. Sales tax increases were not as large as expected due to an 8.9 percent drop in revenue from the 1-cent local option tax. That was offset by an increase in revenue from a statewide half-cent sales tax.
Another driver, Stewart noted in his budget message to the aldermen, was slower growth. Carrboro’s population grew about 6 percent in the past five years – less than half the overall average rate of North Carolina cities and towns.
The version of the budget with no tax increase would total $17,319,634 — an overall decrease in spending of $49,781.
With the proposed tax increase, the budget would increase to 19,109,383 — an increase of 9.8 percent, or $1,739,968.
The major difference in the two budgets is in the hiring of an additional firefighter and in funding capital improvement projects, including sidewalk construction, repairs to the Wilson Park bathrooms, repair of storm drainage on Gary Road and $150,000 for repairs and upgrades to Weaver Street. There would also be $300,000 in scheduled road resurfacing.
Another large portion of any increase would go toward vehicle replacement. The town has $1,648,914 in replacement costs scheduled, including a rear-loading garbage truck, seven police vehicles and new dump trucks.
Other items in the budget include $5,520 in grading and drainage improvements for the town’s baseball fields, $1,700 in continued support of the Carrboro Film Festival, $11,759 for a comprehensive program for teens, $1,500 for a flue shot clinic and $12,000 for vehicle lifts and an emission inspection machine for the Department of Public Works.
Stewart said putting off some of the improvements should be carefully considered given major expenses on the horizon. While this year’s budget provides for the hiring of only one additional firefighter, it carries forward the cost of the hiring of five firefighters last year. The town will need to hire nine more firefighters next year to fully staff the new northern fire station, which is expected to open in early 2009.
The Board of Aldermen are scheduled to hold a work session on the budget next Tuesday, May 8, and possibly another on May 17. A public hearing on the budget is scheduled for May 22, with adoption of the final version of the budget scheduled for June 19.
Other highlights in the budget include:
- Health Care — The town will see a 13 percent increase in its employee health care coverage. A new wellness program is planned.
- Savings — The new budget reflects a total of $290,617 in savings, including those from a consolidation of roles in the Recreation & Parks Department and $85,000 in savings from reduced phone bills, engineering costs and landfill tipping fees. The budget also ends a shared safety officer program with the Town of Hillsborough for a savings of $28,000.
Several members of the Board of Aldermen said they were not expecting the increase proposed to be as low as it was.
Jacquie Gist said the manager and department heads did a good job of cost control.
“I think it’s significant you’re not coming in with a larger increase,†she said. “Thank you for making the most of a bad situation.â€
Joal Hall Broun said she also had expected the proposed increase to be higher.
Randee Haven O’Donell said the budget showed how difficult it must have been to not have increased taxes last year.
In preparation for next week’s work session, Mayor Mark Chilton asked Stewart to further explore the idea of offering health care coverage for the town’s part-time employees.
Dan Coleman said he’d like to see the Town Commons get more use and suggested waiving the reservation fee. The town only takes in $600 a year on the events, and Coleman suggested the reservation fee may be stopping people from using the area. Coleman also suggested dropping the town’s privilege license fee for smaller businesses.
In other action on Tuesday night, the Board of Aldermen heard a presentation on the Ten-Year Plan to End Homelessness, a countywide initiative aimed at chronic homeless.
The board also approved some revisions to a new draft ordinance that would create a downtown livability area. Current zoning rules have open-space restrictions that have made it difficult for downtown projects with housing to move forward. Instead of open space, the new ordinance would require “urban amenities,†such as fountains, bike paths and walkways and rooftop gardens.
A public hearing on the new ordinance is scheduled for May 22.