New Windsor residents will not pay higher taxes next year if the Town Council passes a Fiscal Year 2015 budget drafted by town staff at Wednesday's council meeting. However, council members have said that tax increases could be necessary for FY16 to start paying for a host of capital expenses for which the town has yet to start raising funds for.
The capital costs include state-mandated stormwater projects, road repairs and equipment costs, which are projected to cost millions over the coming years. General fund capital costs are projected to be almost $2 million over six years, while the capital costs associated the enterprise capital budget, which pays for town water and sewer infrastructure, are projected to cost roughly $6.8 million over the same period.
The introduced general fund budget for FY15, which does not include the capital budget, is balanced at $614,550. The water and sewer budget, which is separate from the general fund budget and does not include the enterprise capital budget, is set at $847,100.
Council members decided at a special meeting in April that they would hold off on increasing the town's real property tax rate to start raising money for the capital expenses. Some council members stated they wanted to present a solid plan with accurate cost estimates to residents before they move ahead with any tax increases. The capital budgets for FY15, both general and enterprise, would be set at $66,000 and $985,000, under the introduced budget.
The majority of the costs associated with the enterprise capital budget will be paid for through an expected USDA loan. The loan would cover the costs associated with replacement of the town's two pumping stations.
New Windsor Mayor Neal Roop said he could not predict whether council members would choose to increase taxes next year, but acknowledged it has been discussed.
"Are [tax increases] on the horizon? Probably," said Roop, who has no power to vote on the budget. "But I am not going to say that they are until we get to that point."
He said he hopes the town will get state Community Development Block Grants to pay for road projects, and that more businesses and residences will be built in town to increase the tax base.
Although there are no tax increases for the FY15 budget, there will be increases in residents' water and sewer rates.
In FY15, the base water rate will rise to $115 per quarter with a user rate of $3.24 per 1,000 gallons, and the base sewer rate will rise to $92 per quarter with $6.62 charged per 1,000 gallons.
There will be increases in water and sewer rates each year until
, largely to pay for the loan balance and the operational costs for the town's wastewater treatment plant, which became operational in April 2011. The project was mandated by the Maryland Department of the Environment as a means to prevent excess nutrients from making their way into local waters and the Chesapeake Bay.
The quarterly base water and sewer rates have risen each year since FY12, when the council voted for gradual increases each year to pay for the costs associated with the wastewater treatment plant. The rates both increase by $6, and the quarterly water and sewer usage rates rise by 5 percent each year as well. The sewer base rate was reduced in October 2012 - from $151 to $80 - when the town received a grant to pay off some of the costs associated with the loan for wastewater treatment plant. However, the base rate still rose from that point.
The real property tax rate is set at 21.15 cents per $100 of assessed value, and will remain the same under the introduced budget.
The general fund budget marks a 4.28 percent decrease from last year's. This is mostly because a contract with a cellular provider that leased a spot on a town water tank ended, and town officials have not added any surplus funds or reserve funds into the general fund budget for FY15, as they had for this fiscal year.
Town officials shifted the portions of Town Manager Frank Schaeffer's and Clerk and Treasurer Donna Alban's salaries to the enterprise budget to balance the general fund budget. The enterprise budget is 8 percent larger than last year, due to the water and sewer rate increases.
Residents can comment on the introduced budget at a public hearing at 7 p.m. Wednesday before the council meeting. The meeting will be held at the Community Meeting Room of the Carroll County Public Library Administration Building located at 1100 Green Valley Road.
