City holds line on taxes, but raises water rates

ASHEBORO — The Asheboro City Council passed a budget on June 27 for 2024-25 that keeps the current property tax rate while increasing the water rate by 2 percent.

The city’s operating budget is balanced at $48,188,719 while holding the property tax rate at 71 cents per $100 of property value. 

The largest expenditures in the budget are just more than $13 million for the Police Department and some $7.87 million for the Fire Department. Another $4.53 million is appropriated for street maintenance, $3.34 million for facilities maintenance and just over $3 million for environmental services.

The Water and Sewer Fund is budgeted at $23,282,669 and reflects a rate increase of 2 percent. The effective date of the rate increase on inside and outside residential and commercial customers will be Jan. 1, 2025, and will be included in the January month-end bill sent to customers.

The monthly minimum cost inside the city for 150 cubic feet effective July 1, 2024, is $15.58 for water and $23.37 for sewer service. Outside the city, the minimum cost is $38.95 for water and $58.52 for sewer. 

On Jan. 1, 2025, the minimum monthly cost will rise to $15.89 for water and $23.84 for sewer. Outside the city, the rates will be $39.73 for water and $59.59 for sewer.

Debbie Reaves, the city finance officer, had said at the council’s June 6 meeting that the rate increase for the average household inside the city would come to about $1.41 per month. She said the increase is not enough to cover expenses from maintenance and repairs to aging systems and the larger projects for water treatment, but that it will help fill the gap.

At that June 6 meeting, Reaves had said, “Large increases are really hard on our citizens. If we do multiple small increases over time, it is a lot easier on our citizens." She said the 2 percent increase could bring an additional $320,751 to the city.