By John Peters
Editor
Littleton town residents might see their tax bills rising in the next fiscal year, but the town commission is working to find ways to minimize any such increases.
The commission last week got its first look at the proposed budget for the 2007-2008 fiscal year, which begins July 1.
The new general fund budget proposal stands at $566,555, which represents an 8.6 percent rise in spending over the current year’s budget of $521,731.
Mayor Mason Hawfield said there is nothing extravagant in the spending proposal – “the increase is just to cover cost of living increases,” he said Monday. The town, he added, has been hit by increases in gasoline costs, and other expenses have also gone up.
To pay for the increase the commission is looking at a combination of raising tax rates and transferring more from an end-of-year fund balance.
Because this is a re-evaluation year for Halifax County, all land and home owners have seen the assessed value of their property jump sharply. In order to be revenue-neutral – which is to say, keep land owners paying the same to the town even with higher assessed values – the tax rate would have to be dropped from the current 65 cents per $100 of assess value to 58 cents. Instead, the budget proposal calls for a rate of 61 cents.
Even with that, the proposal also calls for an end-of-year fund balance transfer to the general fund of $100,790. The present year budget calls for a transfer of just $40,508.
Although town residents might be paying more in taxes if the budget proposal is approved by the commission, sewer and water rates are proposed to remain unchanged.
The water and sewer budget, in fact, is projected to spend slightly less in the next fiscal year, with a spending plan of $345,058. That’s down from $349,709 in the current budget.
A public hearing on the budget has been scheduled for June 20 at 7 p.m. in the town hall.
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