Council unanimously approves 2023-24 budget
Jun. 12—LENOIR — Lenoir City Council approved its annual budget for fiscal year 2023-24 during its meeting Tuesday, June 6.
The approved budget is comprised of the General Fund, which totals slightly more than $22 million, the Special District Fund ($236,900), the Tourism Development Fund ($90,000), and the Water/Sewer Fund ($10.7 million), for a total budget of more than $33 million.
According to Lenoir City Manager Scott Hildebran, for fiscal year 2023-24, the city's General Fund budget is balanced with the current property tax rate of 57 cents per $100 valuation. The recommended budget contains no new debt and does not use any fund balance.
The budget maintains the current Rescue Readiness Tax Rate of 0.85 cents per $100 of assessed property value and includes a $1 monthly increase in the Solid Waste fee, bringing the total to $12 per month. All other General Fund charges and fees remain unchanged.
The proposed Downtown Municipal Service District budget is balanced with the current property tax rate of 20 cents per $100 of assessed district property value. The MSD budget includes funding for additional downtown decorations.
The proposed Water and Sewer Fund budget is balanced and includes a 4% increase in water and sewer rates. All other Water/Sewer Fund charges and fees are unchanged. The city has traditionally used the annual Consumer Price Index (CPI) — South Region for all urban consumers as a gauge when considering increases in water and sewer rates. The CPI was 6.4% in February 2023. The rate increase for a typical customer with 5,000 gallons of usage is anticipated to generate $2.09 per month.
The key components of this budget include:
— A cost-of-living-adjustment (COLA) of 4.5% for all employees
— Street resurfacing projects
— Improvements to The Campus at Historic Lenoir High School
— Code enforcement for building demolitions, foreclosures and nuisance enforcement (excluding personnel expenses) in response to council's priorities
— Computer and information technology upgrades to improve operations and enhance security
— A new Comprehensive Plan for the city, which will focus on neighborhood planning including West End, Whitnel, and other neighborhoods
— Continuation of the Federal Phase II Stormwater Program in partnership with the Western Piedmont Council of Governments (WPCOG)
A number of General Fund capital projects are included, such as a Cemetery Master Plan; a rear loading garbage truck and roll-off rentable containers for Sanitation; and six patrol cars, 10 mobile in-car radios, a video enhancement system, and four spare Mobile Data Terminals for the Police Department.
Additionally, there are several Water and Sewer Fund capital projects, including two pick-up trucks, lobby renovations, and American Water Infrastructure Act compliance improvements at the Rhodhiss Water Treatment Plant; a spare pump for the Kincaid Station, upgrade pumps for the Cypress Station, and a dump truck in Wastewater Collections; and influent repairs at the Lower Creek Wastewater Plant.
During the COUNCIL meeting last Tuesday, June 6, Lenoir Mayor Joe Gibbons opened the meeting to receive public comments regarding the proposed budget. However, no one signed up to speak to council. Gibbons closed the public hearing and turned it over to council for any questions or actions.
"I think our staff has done a great job of making this budget for the next fiscal year," Councilman Jonathan Beal said. "We appreciate all of our department heads and all of our employees."
"It's been great to go through this process, but what's better is to see how the money is used," said Mayor pro tem Crissy Thomas. "We see slow progress and things happening, and the people in our community can also see the hard work that's been done. I'm very excited."
The council unanimously approved the 2023-24 annual budget as submitted.
