La Grange: Nine things to know about 2018-19 La Grange budget
By a unanimous 6-0 vote last month, the La Grange Town Commissioners approved its budget for the 2018-19 fiscal year. The proposed budget is $6,716,914, a decrease from last year's by 1.9 percent.
Overall, there was one increase as garbage fees will increase by $0.75 per month, but all other tax rates will stay the same in the town.
"A big piece of the budget was making sure we kept a lot of our rates the same," La Grange Town Manager John P. Craft said. "We didn't have to raise property tax, electricity, water and sewer, and the slight increase on garbage removal was because of the 14 percent increase in landfill charges. We're also not taking from the fund balance and living with what we get off current fees."
The budget took place July 1.
NINE THINGS:
1. The general fund decreased by $10,926 in the 2018-19 fiscal year to $1,680,124, primarily attributed to the elimination of the Supplemental LEO Separation Allowance for John Sullivan as he reached the age of 62.
2. The property tax rate remains at $0.532 per $100.
3. There was $29,425 appropriated to nonprofit organizations: $18,000 for the operation of the library, $5,000 to the La Grange Recreation Association, $3,325 toward the operation of the Council on Aging, $2,600 to the Boy Scouts and $500 to the Arts Council.
4. La Grange will purchase 15.5 million gallons of water from Farmville for approximately $32,000. There is only one month of water withdrawal rights from Farmville with the contract ending in July.
5. The water supply budget will decrease from $599,010 to $360,571, a 66.13 percent drop.
6. Wastewater collection will go from $273,500 to $428,261 in the 2018-19 fiscal year, a change of 56.59 percent.
7. A 2.2 percent cost of living increase was given for all town employees.
8. The valuations of properties in La Grange for the 2017-18 fiscal year was set at $126,376,000.
9. There are no changes to full-time staffing levels in the budget, with one additional part-time position in the finance department to help with customer service.
