McComb’s millage rate will remain the same, but selectmen will vote on a water rate increase to shore up the city’s utility fund at the board’s Sept. 13 meeting.
According to figures released at Tuesday’s budget work session, the overall millage rate will remain at 39.84 mills. City Administrator Quordiniah Lockley said 2.25 mills will be transferred from debt services to the general fund to shore up a projected shortfall of about $24,000, setting the general fund millage rate at 30.85.
“We now have a surplus of $1,324,” Lockley said. “That takes us out of the red for our general fund. We have a balanced budget right now.”
The move is projected to produce about $2.55 million in total property tax revenue. The newly proposed budget also projects a $21,000 increase in revenues to about $10.1 million.
The news is not so good for the city’s utility fund, which faces a $245,551 shortfall. Unlike the other city funds, money cannot be transferred into the utility fund, which is supposed to be self-sufficient.
The fund includes an additional $2.5 million in expenses not present in last year’s budget. Payments on the city’s new wastewater treatment facility are projected to be about $2.06 million.
The city also begins a 10-year payment plan with Siemens Public on a $4.5 million project to install 6,900 automated water meters. The project will cost a projected $500,000 this year.
Lockley told selectmen that he had to project the payments to Siemens despite recent talk of potential litigation against the company.
The city has not made any payments to Siemens this year, as the city is in negotiations with Siemens due to complications with the project.
To combat the utility fund’s debt, the board will consider a 6 percent water rate increase in September. If approved, the increase will require a 30-day waiting period before it can go into effect, with Nov. 1 as its projected start date.
City officials said the rate hikes will range from $1.02 per month to $4.77 per month for customers inside city limits, depending on the size of their water meter.
The $1.02 increase will be for buildings with a 3/4-inch lines, which includes most houses.
Residences and businesses with a 1-inch line will face a $2.16-per-month increase.
Buildings with a 11/2-inch line, such as apartment complexes, larger businesses and the hospital, will face a $4.77 monthly increase.
Water customers who live outside of city limits will see water increases of $2.04, $4.32 and $9.36, depending on the size of their meter.
“I understand rate increases are just like tax increases, but there’s no other way we can do this,” Lockley said. “There will be an outcry from the public.”
“This is a terrible decision we’ve got to make,” Mayor Whitney Rawlings said. “But (there is not) another $245,000 out there.”
