The tax rate for the upcoming fiscal year will be 66 cents per $100 of assessed value, Mayor Julia Meacham said during the board's monthly meeting. A public before the meeting drew no speakers from the public.
“We faced challenges drafting this budget,” the mayor said. “We knew getting any help from the state was unlikely. We feel we have come up with a conservative budget.”
There are no changes in employee health insurance but employees will get a 2 ½ percent raise, Meacham said.
Lowering the tax rate, the mayor said, was a a way to give property owners some tax relief. “We're trying to make the town more attractive for business. We have taken the initiative to remove unsightly businesses and residences. We think we can give the citizens some compensation for not abandoning us.”
The $4,106,690 financial plan reflects there is no appropriation of fund balance used to balance the budget, Interim Finance Officer David Overton wrote in his budget message.
Overton's budget message notes that because of the Westmoreland LG&E Partners annexation, which becomes effective at the end of the month, the power generation facility will be taxed in the amount of $875,330.90. “If you deduct their payment in lieu of taxes for FY 10-11 in the amount of $381,000 and the fire district tax in the amount of $112,068.90 … they will be paying an additional $382,262.09 for FY 11-12.”
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