Politics & Government

Town Council Prepares to Approve Budget

Council members met with Town Manager John Wells Monday night to go over any last minute details before approving the budget on Tuesday.

The Town Council will meet for a public hearing Tuesday night where they will vote on the proposed FY 2013 Town budget.

Councilmember Tom Dunn said Monday that he would be proposing a lower real estate tax rate at 18.5 percent. He would even go as low as 19 percent, he said, compared to the current proposed rate of 19.5 cents. 

“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. “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.”

Find out what's happening in Leesburgwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Dunn said he will provide a number of recommendations on Tuesday, which should allow for the tax rate to be lowered.

One option would be the hiring of contractors for certain jobs in the town rather than paying a staff member to do them.

Find out what's happening in Leesburgwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“When we can hire contract services to do this job we can save money on insurance for employees and pensions,” Dunn said, adding that lower bids can often be made compared to what the town is currently paying. It allows for less long-term expenses, he said.

“The other area that I mentioned was also the Balch Library, which I think we’re a little heavy staffed on,” Dunn said. “It only services about twenty people a day not counting the meetings. So I think we can make cuts there.”  

Other council members offered friendly amendments to the proposed budget, including Katie Hammler. She said she would like to see funding for the Edwards Ferry and Route 15 project delayed in order to see if someone else can fund it.

Councilman Marty Matinez said that if any money is going to be spent on the project that he would like to see it go towards a crosswalk, which would connect all four corners.

“Let’s make a true pedestrian crosswalk,” he said.

Based on Monday night’s discussion, Town Manager John Wells said he doesn’t foresee any specific recommended changes.

“We did hear some questions about two or three different capital projects and we’ll make sure we have the staff available to answer those questions. So there might be some changes to the CIP,” Wells said. “Overall, the Council, again with this being a two year budget, really endorsed this budget last year.

"We’re really looking at some modifications based on some new information and perceptions towards some of the capital projects and that’s fine. That’s why we do a two-year budget and we get to act on it twice.”

Wells said he expects the budget will be approved Tuesday night. The Town Council will meet for a public hearing at 7:30 p.m.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here