City squeezes budget to hold property tax rate

Despite a sharp decline in state tax revenues allotted to the City of Newberry and a $70,000 decrease in property taxes, the City of Newberry is holding its tax rate at 3.85 mills for the upcoming fiscal year.

With an $11 million drop in overall property values in Newberry, the city is facing the same obstacle as many others across the state – figuring out where to make the cuts.

The budget for the 2009/10 fiscal year was about $17,396,000. The 2010/11 budget will be within $40,000 of that, Newberry City Manager Keith Ashby said.

Ashby said that cuts in several departments and a $700,000 grant for repaving made it possible to keep the budget roughly the same size, despite the reduction in state tax revenues and property tax revenues. In total, the city is getting more than $1 million in grants for the 2010/11 fiscal year, he said.

The city was hit with a 22 percent employee health insurance hike. On Monday, commissioners scrapped a plan that would have had each employee contribute $40 per month to their health insurance. Through other cuts, the city was able to absorb the increase in health insurance costs, which rose by $35,000 this year.

An increase in funding for lime rock to maintain grated roads has also been worked into the budget, but how much can be allocated remains unknown until other portions of the budget are finalized.

“I’m very proud of the fact that last year’s and this year’s tax rates are the same,” Ashby said.

He added that the grant writer that he hired 2.5 years ago has really paid off.

The commission approved the proposed budget with some tweaks on its first reading Monday and is scheduled to have a second, and likely final, public hearing on the budget Sept. 27.