Maylor Burns says the property tax rate will remain the same.
It's budget time in Thurmont. Mayor Marty Burns says putting together a spending plan for fiscal year 2013 is going very smoothly. "We were fortunate a number of years ago not to count on any revenues that aren't controlled by the municipality," he says. If the state cut its revenues, "it would not affect us in any way, shape or form."
There's also some good news for residents; the property tax rate will remain the same. "We're keeping the constant yield tax rate, meaning that we're not raising taxes on anybody. We're not raising the rate," he says. But some citizens' tax bills may decrease this year due to declining property values, according to the Mayor. "Most people should see a property tax decrease," says Burns.
One sticking point has to do with the water fund. Because revenues are down, Burns says the water fund will be unable to pay for some of its priorities. He says the Town Commissioners have discussed loaning some general fund money to the water fund which must be paid back. "But there's a couple of things that could happen at the end of the next fiscal year that would make up for that. So we're not too concerned about it. It's not systemic or long term," the Mayor says, talking about the decreased revenues for the water fund.
He says no formal vote has been taken to loan the money to the water fund, "but pretty much the general consensus of the Board of Commissioners seemed very amicable to taking the loan from the general fund for the one time," says Burns.
Right now, the town has not scheduled any public hearing dates for the budget, but the Mayor says they could be announced next week.
Fiscal year 2013 begins on July 1st.
