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Town budget hearing tonight |
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| By John Peters Editor |
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| Littleton town residents who want to have their say so on the town’s proposed $566,555 budget may very well have their last chance to do that, when the town board of commissioners holds a public hearing on the spending measure tonight (June 20). The hearing, set for 7 p.m. in the town hall, will give town residents and anyone else wishing to comment on the 2007-2008 budget a chance to address the town board. The budget, which must be approved by June 30 and take effect on July 1, represents an 8.6 percent rise in spending over the current year’s budget of $521,731. The real estate tax rate proposed in the budget is 61 cents per $100 of assessed value, represents a drop in the rate, from 65 cents, but because Halifax County just completed a re-evaluation of property in the county, the total tax bill of most land and home owner may rise. To have kept tax income at a revenue-neutral state, the rate would have needed to be dropped to 58 cents. Even with more revenue from real estate taxes, 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. 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. 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.
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| Jun 20, 2007 | ||
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