Floy Pierce
KEY BUDGET POINTS
• 25-cent tax increase, making the city’s taxes $1.35 per $100 of assessed property.• $4 garbage fee increase, from $12 to $16 per month, or a new total of $192 per year. This will be billed quarterly.• 2 percent across-the-board raises for employees.• About $2 million to be spent on paving projects.• $32,650 for repairs to City Hall.• Leaf vacuuming and full-time codes officer restored.
Red Bank commissioners are calling tax hikes in this year’s budget “unavoidable” as they try to generate enough money to pay for extensive paving projects and a revamped system for collecting garbage fees.
Commissioners passed a first reading of the $4.9 million budget, which calls for a 25-cent property tax increase and a $4 monthly garbage fee increase.
The budget also includes a 2 percent across-the-board pay raise for all city employees.
The lone holdout against the increases was Commissioner Floy Pierce, who acknowledged the city’s secondary roads needed major overhaul, but said, “We can still pave roads and not go up on taxes.”