The next step for the 2015-2016 Roanoke Rapids budget will be a vote on whether to adopt the financial plan.

That decision will come at council's June 16 meeting, which will be held at the Lloyd Andrews City Meeting Hall on Jackson Street at 7 p.m.

Only one person spoke at this evening's public hearing on the budget, that being Roanoke Valley Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Allen Purser, who thanked the city for developing the budget using a revenue-neutral tax rate. He said the last time there was a de facto increase in the city, the tax rate was not adjusted.

“The budget went through a long and hard development process,” City Manager Joseph Scherer said prior to the public hearing. “We're maintaining a level of service where there are no layoffs (and) no benefit reductions.”

Employees will receive a 2 percent cost of living adjustment. No installment financing is planned in the financial blueprint, Scherer said. “We wanted to develop a budget that shows fiscal stewardship.”

In planning the budget, the city had to account for a $375,000 loss of the privilege license fee as mandated by the state while other revenue projections are flat, the city manager said.

The city will buy a new generator for city hall at a cost of $32,000 while it will drop the purchase of one police vehicle.

Despite the revenue uncertainty, the city will still have a 22 percent fund balance. “We should be prepared for any major emergency,” Scherer said. “We feel we are doing the right thing for our citizens and protecting their future.”

The budget does contain an adjustment in the tax rate, which will take it from 62.4 cents to 65.1 cents per $100 valuation.

Mayor Emery Doughtie said he believed the city did a good job with the budget, “With what we started with and with what we ended up with, a realistic budget. We've got other things we really need to be doing.”

He said, however, moving forward with the city hall generator was important. “If city hall shuts down we would be in a bad way.”

Doughtie said he appreciated the work council and department heads put into crafting the budget. “I'm disappointed that the community didn't give us input into what they would like. Obviously, we can't give everyone everything they would like to have. I hope it is appreciated the effort put in on this budget.”

Councilman Wayne Smith said he was also appreciative of the work Scherer and department heads put in on the financial plan. “We cut a lot of stuff. There are things that should have been done but we didn't have the money to do it. Maybe things will be better next year.”