Warnings Aired As BV Council OKs Budget
Buena Vista City Council this past Thursday adopted a budget and set tax rates that will stay level for next year but not without hearing warnings that holding the line on taxes in the years ahead is going to be increasingly difficult.
“Don’t be lulled into believing that everything is just okay because inflation is hard at work, right on our heels,” remarked Council member Ron Cash. “We need to be diligent, to hold the line on our budget going forward. We all need to be good stewards of what we have, whether it’s our own yards to mow or offices to run in this building – departments within this city. Everybody can do a little bit more.”
Interim City Manager Wayne Handley cautioned that two issues in particular are going to cause fiscal challenges for the city moving forward – capital improvements to Parry McCluer High School to accommodate the city’s middle school students who are moving there and a de facto replacement of the city’s wastewater treatment plant to meet today’s increasingly stringent environmental regulations.
A plan is evolving to secure the financial resources to pay for the improvements to PMHS, Handley told City Council’s budget and finance committee last week. A key component of this plan will likely involve taking a referendum to the city’s voters in November to ask for a 1-cent local sales tax increase to help pay for the capital improvements. Grant funding will also be eyed for what should be “shovel ready” projects.
As for addressing the issues of the aging WWTP, the city has for too long postponed taking action on this project, Handley observed. The city was fortunate to secure a $2.3 million federal grant recently to begin fixing the more pressing problems, he noted, and the city’s sewer rates are being raised this year to start the process of setting aside funds to pay for necessary improvements.
City Council held second readings, read by title only this time, of ordinances that were adopted to set tax rates, approve the budget and appropriate funds for fiscal year 2027.
The real estate tax rate is to remain at 98 cents per $100 value. The personal property tax rate is to stay at $5.85. A 25-cents-perpack tax on cigarettes that was established Jan. 1 is to stay the same rate.
Waste collection and disposal fees for residential customers were raised by $2 per month, from $23 to $25, and commercial rates were raised by $4 per week. Water usage rates are staying at $8.58 per 1,000 gallons of water but sewer rates were raised from $10.04 to $11.04 per 1,000 gallons. Camping and swimming fees at Glen Maury Park were raised.
The overall city budget for next year stands at $37,174,739, which includes a general fund of $17,738,658 and a school fund of $14,685,217. City employees are being given 3 percent cost-of-living raises.
