Rises in solid waste, water fees could be coming to Black Mountain residents: budget talks

Black Mountain Town Council continued budget talks April 18, discussing revenues.

Town Manager Josh Harrold led the council through line items of what the town is projecting revenues to be for the next fiscal year.

The largest source of revenue comes from ad valorem taxes, with a projected revenue of $5.3 million. Last year, the projected revenue was more than $5.1 million, and to date, the town has collected nearly $5.15 million.

Harrold said this does not include an increase in taxes and is based on the current tax rate of 32.1 cents per $100 of value.

The town is projecting nearly $2.6 million in revenues from local sales tax, up from last year's projection of $2.5 million. To date, the town has collected more than $1.4 million.

"This is the one that's hardest to pin down of any of the revenues in my opinion," Harrold said. "The state is saying we should expect around 3% or so increase in sales taxes."

Harrold said, as expected, revenues from January and February were lower than other months such as December. He said this revenue varies from municipality to municipality, but that those with economies based in tourism can expect to see a "little more."

Harrold said none of the projected revenues includes appropriations from the fund balance, but this will be added in later to balance the budget. In the general fund, this year's budget was nearly $1.8 million in appropriated funds for revenue.

The town is proposing an increase in the solid waste fee, going from $2 per month to $10 per month for residents. This is not final and is up to the approval of Town Council.

With this increase, the projected revenue would be $480,000, up from $115,200. To date, $79,920 has been collected.

Harrold said this increase would help cover the cost of a sanitation supervisor and the purchase of trucks in a future budget.

Harrold said other municipalities in the area who charge for the service charge more than Black Mountain. He compared to the town to Brevard, a town of similar population, that charges $20 a month for the same service.

As it stands without appropriations from the fund balance, the town is projecting the general fund revenue to be more than $10.5 million. Currently, the town has collected more than $8.2 million in revenue with a budget projected budget of more than $11.6 million.

For water revenues, rates will be increasing for customers, which Harrold said is "nothing new," though this increase may be more than it has been in the past due to the city of Asheville increasing prices 31.7% for this year and the next two years. Black Mountain purchases water from Asheville because the town does not produce enough.

Finance director Tammy Holland said the Asheville increase amounts to around 55 cents per 1,000 gallons on top of the town's increase.

For the next fiscal year, the town is projected to have $2.19 million in water sales revenue. To date, the town has collected more than $1.3 million.

Harrold said the town, with its current requested budget and projected revenues, is currently $2.5 million over budget for the next fiscal year.

"We're going to use fund balance like we always do to balance that budget," Harrold said. "But rarely if ever do you actually use that number."

The fund balance is in "great shape" according to Harrold, sitting at approximately 60%. The town's internal policy is 30% and the state mandates 8%.

"Our fund balance has continued to rise over the years and our debt has continued to fall over the past few years," Harrold said. "Those are good things. You can't ask for much better than an increase in savings account and a decrease in debt."

Town Council meets for the next budget workshop session April 25 at 8:30 a.m. in Town Hall.

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