With the “big bomb” for the 2024-2025 city budget already being dropped — a 5% water rate hike approved in March — the pain has been eased with word that no tax increase is in store.
Mount Airy’s property tax rate for the next fiscal year will remain at 60 cents per $100 of assessed valuation, City Manager Darren Lewis said Thursday night when unveiling the new spending plan during a commissioners meeting.
The proposed general fund package, separate from the municipal water-sewer budget, totals $17.4 million, less that the adjusted budget for the present fiscal year of $22.6 million. The 2024-2025 fiscal year begins on July 1.
“This budget also includes the police department being fully staffed, including the two positions that you allocated at mid-year,” Lewis said of hirings approved in November specifically to deal with the local homeless problem.
It additionally reinstates two other police positions that had been eliminated in previous budget action.
“This will allow them to be a bigger presence,” Lewis said of local law enforcement efforts to protect the community.
In highlighting other personnel-related items in the preliminary budget, the city manager said it proposes that full-time municipal employees receive a 2- cost-of-living raise effective July 1.
The budget for the next fiscal year reflects a total of 169 full-time employees, including the new police hires.
Along with covering day-to-day operations, the proposed spending package contains funds for capital expenditures related to major building and equipment needs.
New police cars are in the mix in that regard along with a new recycling truck, ballfield lights at Westwood Park, paving the parking lot at the Rockford Street fire station and other items, the city manager said.
Water-sewer outlook
Aside from the general fund portion of its budget, Mount Airy maintains a separate water-sewer budget, which is an enterprise fund supported by user fees.
It is projected at $7.6 million for 2024-2025, which will include the 5- rate hike OK’d earlier this year in a 4-1 vote with Commissioner Deborah Cochran dissenting.
That increase was approved so Mount Airy can make more headway in upgrading the water-sewer infrastructure at treatment facilities along with replacing aging lines.
A trigger for that action is a new state “dashboard” system that analyzes the depreciation level of a community’s infrastructure weighed against user revenues collected.
That system placed Mount Airy in a warning zone, indicating a need for it to provide more funds to address its utility needs at a faster rate.
City water-sewer charges, which are combined into one bill for consumers, were last hiked in 2018 when a 2% increase was imposed.
The latest one is expected to generate extra revenues of $327,000.
Citizens can weigh in
The proposed 2024-2025 municipal budget was scheduled to be posted on the city website Friday to allow its review by residents.
A public hearing on the preliminary spending plan will be held during the next meeting of the Mount Airy Board of Commissioners on May 16 at 6 p.m., when citizens may make comments.
Council members initially seemed pleased Thursday night with the budget as proposed, and will have more time to dissect its provisions before a final decision is made.
“We will have a full discussion of this when we bring it to a vote,” Mayor Jon Cawley said of the spending plan.
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