[May 24, 2013] Maiden's proposed 2013-14 budget doesn't include tax increase Tweet MAIDEN, N.C., May 24, 2013 (Hickory Daily Record - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Residents in the town aren't expected to see their property tax increase but could see their electric rate go up. However, what it costs them to pay those bills online is likely to go down and the town will absorb some increases, according to Maiden's proposed budget for next fiscal year. Maiden $16.313 million budget for 2013-14 calls for the tax rate to remain at 38 cents per $100 of property value. Maiden Town Manager Todd Herms said the town council voted to have a rate study done, which recommends a 5.3 percent increase. Herms said he's going to recommend to council that electric rates increase between 4.3 percent and 4.5 percent. He said the reason for the electric rate increase is because North Carolina Power Agency 1 is passing down a nearly 6 percent rate increase to the town. The town is absorbing some increases and not passing them on to customers. The city of Hickory is proposing increasing its water and sewer rates 3 percent increase but Maiden, which is a wholesale customer of Hickory, plans to absorb that cost, Herms said. Maiden's proposed budget for next fiscal year includes money for a major water plant project to repair the water plant spillway, Herms said. The town received a $75,000 grant from the state and town staff estimates Maiden will have to put $155,000 with the state grant to do the project, he said. The town is receiving a 2 percent increase from Republic Services, which picks up residents' garbage, but the town will absorb that cost, Herms said. Customers who opt to pay their town bills online will likely see the fee to do that go from $2.50 to $1.50. Herms said the town has 1,800 customers, with nearly 8 percent of them choosing to pay their bills online. Herms said the proposed budget calls for the entry fee for youth football games in Maiden will go from $2 to $3. The 2013-14 budget also makes money available to install some batting cages for baseball and softball fields and would add sidewalks and other improvements to parks and grounds, he said. Starting with fall sports, folks will be able to go online and register and pay for all recreational activities, Herms said. If you've registered your child in the last 12 months and provided an active, readable e-mail address, you will get an e-mail before registration starts. The e-mail will have a link in the body of the e-mail and you will be able to register and pay online and the town will begin to build a database, Herms said. He said if anyone has questions about registering online for sports, contact the IT department 428-5007. The budget calls for the police department to convert to the 800 MHZ radios and puts $40,000 toward paying the cost of the radios, Herms said. He said the town won't do the project until officials feel comfortable that all the bugs have been worked out. The proposed budget will install cameras in patrol cars that don't already have them and buys new Tasers so every officer will have one. It also includes $49,200 for two fully-equipped new patrol cars, Herms said. The proposed budget allocates $181,040 to finish buying everything to completely outfit its pumper/tanker fire engine, Herms said. The town also is changing its Christmas lights to go to color LED lights on both sides of Main Street. The town has budgeted $40,000 for that project but Herms doesn't expect it will cost that much. He said the current lights are 15 to 20 years old. The budget also includes money to do install some decorative signs along Main Street, Herms said. Thanks to Apple adding its fuel cell installation and solar farm at its Maiden data center campus, the town's tax base for the first time in history reached $1 billion, Herms said. The Apple projects added $296 million to tax base from last year to this year, he said. Currently, 1 cent of the town's tax rate equals $125,100, he said. A public hearing on the proposed budget for 2013-14 will be held in the council chambers June 17. ___ (c)2013 the Hickory Daily Record (Hickory, N.C.) Visit the Hickory Daily Record (Hickory, N.C.) at www.hickoryrecord.com Distributed by MCT Information Services [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]