Politics & Government
City Council Unprepared to Present Final Budget
At the end of a sixth budget work session, City Council members were still in disagreement over line-item cuts and a tax rate.
City Council met for their sixth work session on the FY2014 budget Tuesday night, but were unprepared to present the first reading of a final budget as scheduled on the regular session agenda.
"Basically this whole process is a process of compromise," Mayor Mary Katherine Greenlaw said as the council considered 19 budget items line-by-line in the work session.
Although the Council voted 4 - 3 in March to advertise the city's real estate tax rate for FY2014 at 9 cents above the current rate of $.74 cents per $100 valuation, council members are now considering line item cuts to balance the budget with no tax increase, with a 3 cent increase or with a 1 cent increase.
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Some of the items being debated are city and school employee cost-of-living increases, the transfer to the schools, monies for the Fredericksburg Area Museum, the Rappahannock Regional Library and tourism marketing, new sheriff's deputies for the new courthouse, hiring a purchasing agent for the city, and two new Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs).
Greenlaw said the real estate tax provides only one-third of the city's revenue.
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"We have an aging infrastructure and it is for that reason alone it is important we do what cities do and what taxes and revenue do," Greenlaw said. "I think it unrealistic and misleading to have no tax increase this year because we need to maintain and stabilize core services for our residents," she said.
Final adoption of the FY2014 budget was originally scheduled for City Council's May 14 meeting.
"Every time we leave a work session we think we have some decision, but we come back with more ideas," Greenlaw said. "It's crunch time and we must move forward," she said.
The complete FY2014 City of Fredericksburg City Manager's recommended budget can be viewed online.
Stories related to the city's budget:
(April 23, 2013)
Public Hearing Tonight on FY2014 Budget (April 16, 2013)
City Conducting Study for $25M Stadium (April 12, 2013)
City Advertises 9-Cent Tax Rate (April 1, 2013)
(March 13, 2013)
Study Provides Recommendations to Improve City Efficiency (Jan. 23, 2013)
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