Waynesville walks the line at budget time
The town of Waynesville has rolled out a budget plan for the coming fiscal year that’s nearly identical to the year before.
“It is basically a hold-the-line budget. There is very little that represents a big change. There is not a lot we think will create controversy,” Town Manager Marcy Onieal told the town board this week.
It’s somewhat of an optical illusion, however. While the budget looks the same on the surface, the back end was a minefield of booby traps and wild cards.
Among them:
• Whether state lawmakers will let Lake Junaluska merge with the town. The merger has been in limbo for two years now. It would impact almost every town department — from building inspections and utility billing to police and street crews.
• Fluctuating wholesale electricity rates cutting into the town’s power profits. The town-run electric utility is at the mercy of wholesale power rates, which swing wildly and unpredictably month-to-month. Some months, wholesale power rates are going so high, it wipes out profits, which the town historically counted on to fund the budget.
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• This year, state lawmakers told towns and cities they could no longer collect business license fees. Waynesville will see a loss of nearly $150,000 as a result.
“That’s a big chunk the legislature has taken out of our pockets,” Onieal said.
Onieal said she didn’t want to sound like a “harbinger of doom,” but warned that towns are highly vulnerable to tax policy changes handed down by state lawmakers, and more are likely to come under Republican tax code plans.
• Whether new development and construction will pick up, which in turn adds to the property tax base, be it a new fast-food joint on South Main or homeowners building garage additions.
The town has seen a substantial uptick in the number of building permits applied for over the past year. Now it is a waiting game to see if the building permits that were pulled translate into actual development.
“Hopefully we will begin to see some of that natural growth in the economy that helps us continue to grow in the community and support the strong services and programs that Waynesville has been known for,” Onieal said.
Onieal walked through a draft version of the town budget Monday night, but aldermen delayed discussion until next week, after they had more time to digest the 3-inch thick binder.
The town’s proposed budget is $13.7 million — which is actually $20,000 less than last year. The separate water, sewer and electric operations have a combined budget of $16 million.
Onieal said the town so far hasn’t had to sacrifice quality of life services for residents despite budget uncertainty during the recession.
“You have taken very wise steps in the past to make sure we are in a position not to have to cut services,” Onieal told town aldermen. “You have very boldly continued to make steps to move into the next century.”
The budget this year includes a 5 percent raise for town employees.
“This is the largest salary adjustment we’ve had with the town of Waynesville in a decade. It is quite generous but not unwarranted,” Onieal said, citing stagnating salaries during the recession.
Raises won’t be 5 percent across the board, however. A salary analysis and comparison will be done to determine which positions need more or less of a raise with the available pot built into the budget.
The tax rate would remain at 43.8 cents per $100 of property value.
A public hearing on the town budget will be held at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 9, and again on June 23.
