By: Erin Smith
No tax increase were the words of the day at the noon work session for the town of Elizabethtown. Town Manager Eddie Madden presented the Council with the proposed FY 2017-18 budget and told the board the ad valorem tax rate will remain at $0.615 per $100 valuation for another year.
According to the budget document, the proposed budget for the Powell Bill Fund is $114,000, which is the same as this budget year. Town staff are recommending a 2 percent increase in the water rates and the sewer rates will remain unchanged. Madden said the town staff are estimating a 2 percent increase in the monthly billing from Waste Industries due to inflation so it is recommended the board consider an increase of 2 percent in the town’s sanitation rates.
The budget also contains a recommendation for a 1.5% cost of living adjustment for town employees.
“After talking with the Council of Governments a week or so ago, it seems inflation rates are increasing to 2.0 to 2.5 percent,” said Madden.
Madden said the town switched to the state employee health plan a few years ago and it has worked well for the town. He said the General Assembly is considering some changes and until recently, employees have had three plans to choose from including a consumer-directed plan which will be going away and the 80/20 plan which is expected to increase by $35. Madden told the Council they might want to consider those items as they consider offering a cost of living increase to employees.
Fairly large projects are coming up, one being the Phase II Revitalization project. The town is expected to contract with ECS for the environmental review of the Phase I Revitalization.
Madden noted that at the budget retreat the Council was given a debt schedule that reviews prior year’s debt and a schedule for projected future debt. Expenditures for the governing body will remain the same.
Madden said town staff have moved some debts to different departments. The debt for the farmers market has been moved to the facilities budget and the debt for the downtown revitalization project loan and the parking lot have been transferred to the public services budget. He said the reasoning for the moves is for better tracking and to better align them with the areas responsible for their maintenance. He noted the loan for the downtown parking lot will be paid later this year.
Madden also discussed a change in office space. “The fire chief and the planning director have both met and talked and they have brought and we want to discuss with you all as well about the possibility of relocating the planning department to the fire department. The main reason is a lot of inspections are being conducted separately,” said Madden. The fire department is performing some code enforcement inspections while the planning department is also performing some inspections and they sometimes overlap. Madden said it has been suggested to move the planning department to the fire department to provide continuity not only for town staff but also for the public.
He briefly discussed the facilities needs for public works. He reminded the board that staff have explored the possibility of moving the airport terminal building to public works to be utilized as office space but there were some issues with that. Plans have been developed for the renovation of the current Public Works building.
The police department budget has decreased by 4.8 percent. Madden said there has been some changes in staff and personnel that has resulted in a slightly lower budget for the police department.
The fire department has also experienced some changes and their budget is forecast to decrease by 1.1 percent. Madden said the fire department continues to have paid staff being funded by a FEMA grant and that will continue for about 18 months.
There is an expenditure for the purchase of a grapple truck for public works. The truck will be similar to the one used during the Hurricane Matthew clean up. Madden said the leaf truck currently owned by the town has been taken out of service.
Councilman Dicky Glenn asked about the vehicle the grapple truck would be replacing. Public Works Director Pat DeVane said currently, one truck pulls a leaf vacuum and the other truck pulls a chipper. These are two trucks and two specialized pieces of equipment and each truck has its own crew, said DeVane. Those trucks run their assigned routes every week. DeVane said the motor is blown in the leaf truck. He explained the leaf collector still works but the town does not own anything to tow it. He explained the grapple truck is a more specialized piece of equipment but it doesn’t do as good of job getting leaves up as the vacuum truck and it does not chip but it can quickly go out and pick up large piles of trash and put it in the body and haul it. DeVane said the grapple truck can haul more than either of the other two trucks. He said staff hoped to have both capabilities so that in the fall when the town is seeing heavy loads of leaves, the staff could use both the leaf vacuum and the grapple truck and stay caught up.
“If we bought the grappling truck that is in the budget for $140,00 ball park, you would still be talking to the fire chief about the other truck you haven’t plugged in. His fire truck hasn’t got anything to do with if we buy a grappling truck?” asked Glenn. DeVane replied it was two separate issues.
Councilman Rufus Lloyd interjected, he has noticed piles of things like sofas and such scattered on the side of the streets for several weeks. Lloyd asked for an update on the removal of those items. DeVane replied that large items can be picked up by appointment. DeVane said if a citizen will call the public works department, they will come out and remove items such as sofas and mattresses. He added the grapple truck would be beneficial for those types of items.
The proposed budget is now available in the town hall for the public to review. The Council will hold a public hearing on the budget on June 5 at 7 p.m.
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