Residents in Selma would pay higher property taxes under a proposed budget released Tuesday by Town Manager Elton Daniels.
The proposed $18,909,507 spending plan for the 2018-19 fiscal year represents a 3.8 percent decrease from the $19,658,217 budget this fiscal year.
Daniels said his budget proposal includes a 5 cent tax adjustment, increasing the current tax rate from 51 cents to 56 cents per $100 of assessed value.
For a homeowner with a house valued at $125,000, they would pay $62.50 more annually or an extra $5.21 per month.
No reductions to core municipal services provided to citizens is proposed. There will be no increase to electric, water or sewer rates in the spending plan.
The Selma budget does call for the hiring of a part-time Athletic Director, part-time Fire Inspection and adjusting the part-time Events Planner to full-time. The budget includes funding a portion of 3 full-time firefighter positions, pending approval of a grant. If the grant is not received the firefighter positions will be eliminated from the budget.
Town of Selma employees would receive a 2.5 percent cost of living increase effective July 1, 2018.
Daniels said the new budget includes $30,000 for repairs at the tennis courts at Edgebrook, $19,061 for HVAC replacement at the Selma Library, $100,000 for street resurfacing, $40,100 for a police K-9 SUV, $27,000 for an administrative vehicle and $12,000 for new software for the planning and code enforcement offices.
The budget includes $2,500 to fund Citizen Appreciation Awards.
A new longevity plan will offer an immediate savings of about $20,000.
The proposed budget calls for a 2 cents increase in the Rural Fire District tax, which would apply to citizens and businesses outside the city limits served by the Selma Fire Department. The Rural Fire Board recently recommended the increase. Johnston County Commissioners will have the final approval.
The total expenditures in the General Fund Budget are $6,441,541 a 1.2 percent decrease from the 2017-18 amended budget. Daniels said he trimmed $1,177,266 from departmental requests, or 15.5 percent, to arrived at the recommended budget.
The Selma Town Council has until June 30th to adopt a budget for the new fiscal year beginning July 1st.
Town of Selma Yearly Property Tax Rate
FY05 0.44
FY06 0.44
FY07 0.49
FY08 0.49
FY09 0.53
FY10 0.53
FY11 0.53
FY12 0.51
FY13 0.51
FY14 0.51
FY15 0.51
FY16 0.51
FY17 0.51
FY18 0.51
