Budget includes increase in fees
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on May 10, 2016 1:46 PM
If the city's proposed budget for 2016-17 is approved as it now reads, residents will see an increase in their water bills and will pay more to register their vehicles in the city limits.
Businesses will also have to pay a new registration fee of $20 to operate within the city.
In the proposed budget is a proposed increase for water and sewer bills, which will equate to a 5-cent increase for every 750 gallons of water consumed by city residents.
An average water customer uses 4,500 gallons per month, meaning city residents can expect to see an average increase of 60 cents per month on their water bills.
This extra money collected will be used to expand the city's water plant and rehabilitate sewer lines throughout the city.
As of July 1, every municipality across North Carolina will have the authority to levy a vehicle licensing tax of up to $30, raising the maximum amount a municipality can charge for the tax by $25.
In light of this, Goldsboro will raise its own vehicle licensing tax from $5 to $10, which is expected to bring the city an additional $270,000 in revenue over the course of the fiscal year.
This money collected from the vehicle licensing fee will go toward $270,000 worth of paving dirt streets throughout the city.
Another new fee applies only to business owners, who will now have to pay an additional fee to operate within the city limits.
The city's 2016-17 budget calls for the implementation of a business registration fee of $20, which will be charged to each business in the city limits every year, regardless of whether the business is old or new.
The new business registration fee is being levied with the thought of helping the city's inspections department to keep track of what businesses are operating within the city, and to ensure compliance with zoning regulations, fire inspection requirements and identifying businesses that need to be subjected to additional permits.
This business registration fee is expected to net the city roughly $50,000 during the upcoming fiscal year. It is also a replacement for the privilege license tax that was phased out as required by state legislation.
The city is also looking to levy a backflow inspection fee of an unspecified amount for businesses, which is estimated to bring in $45,000 per year for the city.
Businesses are required to have backflow inspections done annually, and the city would hire a new staff member to complete backflow inspections for businesses to give the business owner the option of hiring a private sector worker or city staff member to complete the inspection. It would also be the new staff member's job to ensure are businesses are in compliance with the backflow inspection requirement.
Whatever fee is implemented for the backflow inspection will go toward recuperating the cost of hiring a staff member to complete the annual backflow inspection.
The proposed budget also includes several cuts in funding to various agencies that receive city support, as well as a few increases for other agencies.
Six agencies will see slight cuts in funding. The Wayne County Alliance will receive $25,000 from the city this year as opposed to $75,000; the Butterball Economic Incentive will receive $8,640 instead of $13,000; the One N.C. Fund Grant will receive no funding; the Boys and Girls Club of Wayne County will receive $10,000 instead of $13,000; W.I.S.H. will receive $14,589 instead of $15,000; and the Wayne Community College WORKS program will receive $8,000 instead of $9,284.
Five agencies will see increases in funding from the city. The Arts Council of Wayne County will receive $30,000 instead of $25,000; WAGES will receive $20,000 instead of $15,000; the Wayne County Museum will receive $15,000 instead of $12,000; Waynesborough Park will receive $25,000 instead of no funding; and the Goldsboro-Wayne Transportation Authority will receive $244,386 instead of $222,740.
The Goldsboro City Council declined to schedule any additional budget meetings, and will hold a public hearing on the proposed budget on May 31 at 5 p.m. at City Hall.
The council is expected to adopt the budget at its June 6 meeting.