The Highlands budget for the 2021-22 fiscal year was unveiled to the public for the first time during the May board of commissioners meeting.
Town manager Josh Ward made the budget presentation and noted that the balanced ledger for the coming year will total $28,468,209. The current ad valorem property tax rate of 0.1565 per $100 of property value will remain in place with no tax increase.
The total property valuation for Highlands is $1,856,000,000.
“In order to balance the budget as required by law we will have to make a $1,897,434 appropriation from fund balance and a $391,171 distribution from the electric enterprise fund,” Ward said. “Even with those appropriations made the town is in a strong financial position both in the near term and in the long term.”
Ward noted that each of the town’s enterprise funds is self-supporting and did not require additional funds to balance, with the exception of the sanitation fund, which will finish the current fiscal year with a $47,850 shortfall. The shortfall was caused by an unexpected increase in overtime hours to accommodate seven-day per week trash collection.
Ward was hopeful that the sanitation budget would be back to balanced in the upcoming fiscal year due to changes made to the pickup schedule on weekends and the elimination of cardboard pickup on weekends.
“Our public works director Lamar Nix has made the necessary changes to get the sanitation budget back in line and from what we have seen in the past two months those changes have been effective,” Ward said.
Included in the proposed budget is a 3 percent cost of living pay increase for all town employees and a 9.5 percent cost decrease associated with switching health insurance providers. If the proposed budget is approved, Blue Cross will take over the town’s health insurance plan as of July 1.
The town’s biggest expenditures were in the Capital Projects Fund ($8,638,258), General Fund ($6,935,728) and the Electric Enterprise Fund ($6,531,978). The Capital Projects Fund includes the loan for the town’s fiber network project and the new fire department, which are both under construction. The General Fund covers the town’s departmental operations such as the police department, parks and recreation, planning/zoning and administration.
“The financial outlook for the Town of Highlands remains strong. As we have witnessed over the past year, people are eager to visit Highlands as a vacation destination or relocate to Highlands as permanent or part-time residents,” Ward said. “The electric fund is stable and continues to provide funding necessary to offset capital project costs in other departments. Due to the ability to transfer funds from the electric reserve, the town has been fortunate to keep its long-term debt extremely low.”
A public hearing on the proposed 2021-22 fiscal year budget will be held during the board of commissioners meeting at 7 p.m. on Thursday, June 17.