Politics & Government

Town Council Approves FY 2013 Budget

The $88.8 million budget stayed the same while keeping the proposed real estate tax rate at 19.5 cents.

The Town Council unanimously approved the FY 2013 budget during its public hearing Tuesday night.

The $88.8 million budget will keep the proposed real estate tax rate at 19.5 cents per $100 of assessed value. The 19.5 cent rate was also approved as the equalized tax rate. 

Prior to approval, Councilman Tom Dunn said he would not support the tax rate if it was any higher than his proposed 18.5 percent. 

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"Home values are going up and if we keep the tax rate the same then people’s tax bills are going to go up,” Dunn said in an interview on Monday. “We’ve always tried to have it where we have given people at or lower tax bills and if we don’t lower the rate then they’ll have higher tax bills.”

In order to reduce the tax rate, Dunn suggested that a number of personnel positions be removed from the budget while replacing specific town services with contractors. That motion failed. 

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Councilman Dave Butler said he was “very comfortable" with the original proposed tax rate. The council voted 6 to 1 to approve the budget with Dunn voting against it. 

Also approved were the following:

• adoption of the FY 2012-2017 CIP in the amount of $75,118,518. The council voted 7 to 0.

• memorializing the intent of the Town Council to use long-term financial planning methods to meet fiscal policies and reduce the impact on Real Estate tax rates. The council voted 5 to 2 with council members Marty Martinez and Tom Dunn voting against it. 

• Establishing a debt service reserve as an Assigned Fund Balance in the General Fund; transferring $1.4 million from the Revenue Stabilization Reserve to the Debt Service Reserve; and transferring $2 million from the Unassigned Fund Balance to the Debt Service Reserve. The council voted 6 to 1 with Dunn voting against it. 

• a resolution transferring $1.5 million from the General Fund Unassigned Fund Balance to the Capital Asset Replacement Reserve for Replacement of Vehicles and Heavy Equipment. The council voted 6 to 1 with Dunn voting against it. 

• a resolution amending the Fiscal Policy for the Town of Leesburg. The council voted 7 to 0. 


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