No tax increase in Asheboro’s proposed budget

ASHEBORO — The Asheboro City Council received the proposed 2024-25 general fund budget at a special workshop on May 16. Balanced at $48,186,044, there is no increase in the property tax rate, which will remain at 71 cents per $100 valuation.

The budget was presented by Debbie Reaves, finance director, with explanations by City Manager John Ogburn.

There will be a public hearing on the budget on June 6 at 7 p.m. and final adoption on June 27 at 6 p.m. Both meetings will be held in the upstairs Council Chamber at the Municipal Building, 146 N. Church St.

Reaves told the council that she and Ogburn received budget requests from department heads and had discussions with them prior to coming up with the proposed budget. She said the major source of revenues for the city is property tax collections, with estimates of some $24.5 million. Local option sales taxes account for another $10.8 million with various other fees, sales and grants making up the total.

On the expense side of the ledger, public safety takes up more than $21.6 million of the pie. The Police Department would be allocated $13 million, the Fire Department would receive $7.8 million while Building Inspections and Fire Inspections would get $761,000 between them.

Other expense items include: General government, $6.4 million; transportation, $6.5 million; environmental protection, $3.15 million; economic development and community support, $1.38 million; culture and recreation, $9 million. The proposed budget provides a 2.5 percent cost of living adjustment (COLA) for all city employees.

Reaves said the residential garbage collection fee as recommended only covers 89.31 percent of the cost. Ogburn said they were considering outsourcing garbage pickup, but in the meantime the city is closely monitoring and trying to manage costs.

New positions covered in the budget are: An assistant city manager, a planning/zoning technician, a public information officer, a Downtown Asheboro Inc. position, a building inspector, and four maintenance personnel and a program coordinator for the Zoo City Sportsplex.

Reaves said that fee changes are being considered for inspections, planning and zoning, and recreation. Those changes will be provided during the June 6 public hearing.

A copy of the proposed budget will be available for public inspection after its presentation at the public hearing. At that time, it will be at the city clerk’s office and posted at www.asheboronc.gov.