ROCKINGHAM — The proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year has a few rate increases, but property taxes will remain the same, according to City Manager Monty Crump.
Crump gave a brief overview of the budget to the Rockingham City Council during Tuesday night’s meeting.
“This is basically a typical, solid budget,” Crump told the council. “We remain in good financial shape across the board.”
The property tax rate will remain at $0.55 per $100 of valuation for the third consecutive year. The rate had been at a near-record-low of $0.48 for about 15 years —until the Richmond County Board of Commissioners changed the sales tax distribution just before the 2020-2021 budget and the city raised its rate to $0.58 to account for a loss in revenue.
While there will be no property tax hikes, Crump said there will be a slight increase in commercial garbage fees. Residential garbage fees will be left alone.
Crump continued, saying that the proposed budget includes a 3% cost-of-living adjustment for all 133 full-time city employees, which he said is similar to that proposed by the legislature for state employees.The statewide average COLA, he added, is 2.7%.
“I also read earlier today that, for the last …three years, wages have not kept up with inflation,” Crump said, adding that the budget raises the contribution to the 401K plan by 2.5% for a total of 5%. “The point there being to provide another incentive for someone to stay here over a longer term.”
According to the budget, law enforcement personnel have been receiving a 5% contribution since inception.
Crump said the city was “very fortunate” this year with only a 4% increase in healthcare costs, with trends running 8-9%.
There will also be a 5% increase “across the board” for municipal water and sewer customers.
“We’re still chasing costs there from last year — extremely high chemical costs, treatment costs, process costs,” Crump said.
He added that the city is cognizant on the effect on senior citizens and others on fixed incomes. On a minimum bill, with around 2.000 gallons, Crump said that would only increase bills by about $0.80. For families using 6,000-7,000 gallons per month, their bills would rise by around $2-$2.40 per month.
The city manager said capital outlay expenses, including new equipment and vehicles, will be presented in more detail during the work session.
The proposed budget shows capital outlay requests at $1,247,023— $419,825 less than the prior year.
Public safety accounts for nearly half of the city’s General Fund expenditures, with 35% for the police department and 13% for the fire department.
Capital outlay requests for RPD include:
The Rockingham Fire Department is requesting $98,000, including $60,000 to replace air packs and $35,000 for turnout gear.
Other capital outlay requests by department include:
The budget work session is scheduled for 9:30 a.m., Tuesday, June 2 at the Hinson Lake lodge.
There will be a public hearing on the proposed budget at the regular meeting on June 9.
The budget is available at the city's website and is attached below.
