Council to take final budget, tax rate votes

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September 22, 2012

Council to take final budget, tax rate votes

By BRAD KELLAR Herald-Banner Staff The Herald-Banner Sat Sep 22, 2012, 11:18 PM CDT

GREENVILLE — The Greenville City Council is expected to take the final votes Tuesday to approve the proposed city budget and property tax rate for the coming year.

The budget would be funded through the current property tax rate of 69.9 cents per $100 valuation, although it still amounts to a tax increase. The budget includes several cuts but increases by 50 percent the amount the city will spend on maintaining local streets.

However, one Council member has pushed for a reduction in the tax rate, to where the city takes in the same amount of revenue as it did this year.

The Council intends to have one more discussion concerning the budget during a workshop starting at 5 p.m. Tuesday, with two votes scheduled on the budget and one vote on the tax rate scheduled during the regular session, starting at 6 p.m. in the Municipal Building, 2821 Washington Street.

Mayor Pro Tem Jeff Dailey has pushed for the adoption of the effective tax rate of 66.39 cents per $100 valuation, which would raise the same amount of money as in the current fiscal year.

In order to maintain the current tax rate, City Manager Steven Alexander has offered a proposal which includes several cuts in the budget, including the elimination of the assistant city manager’s position and an additional traffic control officer. A handful of employees will no longer be receiving market pay adjustments, and a hiring freeze on open positions would be implemented.

Cuts in funding for the Boys and Girls Club and Senior Center Resources and Public Transit are no longer on the table, although $5,000 in funding for the Children’s Advocacy Center was cut.

Finance Director Cliff Copeland said the money for the center might be available elsewhere.

The $674,000 in cuts and reallocations would make up for $500,000 shortfall in franchise fee revenue from GEUS, while allowing an increase in street maintenance spending to $900,000 next year, compared to the $600,000 which was in this year’s budget.

If for some reason the Council not approve a budget and tax rate by the start of the next fiscal year on October 1, City Manager Steven Alexander’s original proposed budget — which did not include the $674,000 in cuts — would automatically be adopted, and the city would have to operate on the effective tax rate.

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Council to take final budget, tax rate votes

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