Taxes, water and sewer rate & public safety: What to know about Collierville's FY24 budget

The Collierville Board of Mayor and Aldermen on Monday approved a $124 million general fund budget for fiscal year 2024.

From property tax and sewer rate increases to development project funds, the general budget covers the town's operations including employee hiring, public safety and infrastructure.

Town Administrator Molly Mehner presented the budget Monday during the third and final reading. The budget will go into effect July 1.

Here are four things to know about Collierville's FY24 budget.

How much will Collierville increase its property tax rate?

Collierville increased its property tax rate $0.12, moving the rate up from $1.72 per $100 of assessed value to $1.84. For a Collierville property valued at $450,000, owners would see an annual tax increase of about $135, or about $11.25 monthly.

"The majority of that tax increase is going towards public safety items," Mehner said. "First and foremost, the staffing of the new fire station 6... we are adding an additional dispatcher to our 911 center, an additional jailer to the municipal jail and an animal control officer to help with animals that need to be picked up."

The increase helps fund operating Firehouse 6 on Shelby Drive, which will improve emergency response coverage in Southeast Collierville, Mehner said.

In 2022, the town also began operating its own ambulance service, which means Collierville needs to adjust its budget to sustain the cost of new ambulances and increased personnel.

"All of those factor into keeping Collierville safe," Mehner said.

How much will Collierville increase its water and sewer rate?

The town increased its water and sewer rate $0.64 from $3.20 to $3.84, as part of a new schedule of rate increases.

According to the schedule, residents will see a base charge of $4.14 that increases with more usage.

"I know it's difficult for people to see property tax increase and an increase in their water and sewer rate in the same year," Mehner said. "However, our water and sewer fund was operating on a pretty thin margin and one unforeseen catastrophe could put us in the red."

Mehner said residents will notice "a couple extra dollars" each month but it's not a significant difference.

The fee schedule increases each year, and according to the ordinance, by 2033 the rate will move up to $6.36.

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What's included in Collierville's Capital Investment Projects budget?

The $40.3 million Capital Investment Projects budget sets aside funds for dozens of new developments including synthetic turf fields at H.W. Cox Park, pickleball courts and a Wolf River Greenway pedestrian bridge.

Parks and Recreation has about $6 million in the fund, with the pedestrian bridge taking about $2.7 million. The other $3.3 million will go toward Hinton Park disc golf expansion, Johnson Park's Nature Center Boardwalk replacement, Town Square improvements and the pickleball courts.

Most of the CIP fund will go toward infrastructure improvements including Shelby Drive widening, traffic signals, drainage, and road and sidewalk investments. The infrastructure improvements will take about $19.4 million from the CIP budget.

Mehner said the town also increased paving spending for FY24.

Public safety and Collierville town employees

The CIP budget set aside about $8.3 million for public safety investments.

FY24 has $6.9 million for Fire Station 6, $150,000 for police body-worn cameras and $1.2 million for a replacement rescue pumper for Firehouse 4.

The town is also raising employee wages 5% across the board "to make sure we're remaining competitive in the market," Mehner said.

"I want people to understand the amount of time that goes into preparing this document," Mehner said. "The emphasis is really on keeping Collierville safe and taking care of the infrastructure that we have so that we can maintain a high quality of life."

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Dima Amro covers the suburbs for The Commercial Appeal and can be reached at Dima.Amro@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @AmroDima.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Collierville's budget: Tax, water and sewer rate, public safety, more