Oak Ridge Today

Council to consider water rate, sewer rate, trash fee increases

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Oak Ridge City Council 2014

The Oak Ridge City Council is pictured above in 2014. (Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge)

 

Note: This story was updated at 10:38 a.m.

The Oak Ridge City Council will consider increases in the water and sewer rates that would go into effect in January 2017 and January 2018 during a regular meeting tonight (Monday, September 12). Council will also consider a trash fee increase that members endorsed during budget deliberations in June.

A 6 percent increase has been proposed for both water and sewer rates starting January 1, 2017. The next year, effective January 1, 2018, a 4 percent increase has been proposed for water rates and a 6 percent increase has been proposed for sewer rates.

A home that uses the minimum amount would pay an extra $2.26 per month for water and sewer starting in 2017 and an additional $2.17 per month in 2018.

A home that uses 5,000 gallons per month would pay $5.33 more per month for both water and sewer in 2017 and another $4.87 in 2018.
[Read more…]

Council approves budget with no tax increase, more money for schools

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Note: This story was updated at 1:15 p.m. June 16.

The Oak Ridge City Council approved a budget on Monday that does not include a property tax rate increase, but it does include more money for schools. The budget anticipates increases in the trash fee and water and sewer rates.

It was the second and final vote on the budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1. The first vote, or reading, was Monday, June 6.

The property tax rate will stay at $2.52 per $100 of assessed value. It’s the ninth year in a row without a property tax rate increase by the city, although the tax rate had to be adjusted last year after five-year reappraisals.

The budget, which has about $22.8 million in the general fund, includes a 3 percent pay adjustment that will move municipal employees along their pay scales, helping to separate those who have worked for the city for a while from those who have just started. [Read more…]

Council approves budget with no tax increase, more money for schools

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Note: This story was last updated at 12:15 a.m.

The Oak Ridge City Council approved a budget on Monday that does not include a property tax rate increase, but it does include more money for schools and it anticipates increases in the trash fee and water and sewer rates.

The budget passed in a 6-1 vote in the first of two readings this month. The second and final reading is Monday, June 13.

Council rejected one motion to lower the $2.52 property tax rate by 4.4 cents and another to take away the additional $538,048 requested by Oak Ridge Schools and put it into the capital fund instead.

The budget does not increase the property tax rate for the ninth year in a row. After five-year reappraisals last year, the rate is now set at $2.52 per $100 of assessed value.

As approved on first reading Monday, the budget includes a 3 percent pay adjustment that will move municipal employees along their pay scales, helping to separate those who have worked for the city for a while from those who have just started. The school budget, which was approved by the Oak Ridge Board of Education in May, also includes 3 percent salary increases. [Read more…]

See the city manager’s budget presentation here

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Oak Ridge Today has uploaded a copy of the city manager’s budget presentation to Oak Ridge City Council. You can see a PDF version of the budget presentation here: City of Oak Ridge (Fiscal Year 2017 Budget).

Council received the PowerPoint presentation during a special meeting on Tuesday.

Here are a few highlights from the Tuesday meeting: [Read more…]

City’s proposed budget would leave property tax rate unchanged

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Mark Watson

Mark Watson

Note: This story was last updated at 10:30 a.m.

The proposed city budget presented to Oak Ridge City Council members on Tuesday would leave the property tax rate unchanged, but it could include rate increases for water, sewer, and trash collection.

If approved by Council, the budget would not increase the property tax rate for the ninth year in a row. After five-year reappraisals last year, the rate is now set at $2.52 per $100 of assessed value.

The proposed budget includes a 3 percent pay adjustment that would move employees along their pay scales, helping to separate those who have worked for the city for a while from those who have just started.

The trash fee would increase by $3.50 per month, raising it from $10.50 to $14 per month starting in October. The fee was raised to $10.50 last year. At $14 per month, the city would no longer subsidize part of the trash fee, as it has previously done. The city used to pay half of the $14 fee, meaning residents paid $7 per month and the city paid $7. [Read more…]

City budget raises trash fee, provides more for city infrastructure

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Oak Ridge City Council on July 28, 2015

The Oak Ridge City Council raised the trash pickup fee by $3.50 during a special budget meeting on Monday, July 27, 2015, and the Council set aside an extra $260,000 for capital projects such as buildings and schools. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today) 

 

Note: This story was last updated at 10:05 a.m. July 28.

There will be a $3.50 increase in the monthly trash fee, and more money—$260,000—will be reserved for capital projects such as buildings and schools, while city officials are not expected to change the new property tax rate provided by the state after five-year reappraisals completed this year.

The trash fee will increase from $7 to $10.50 per month. That change is expected to provide another $335,000 per year in revenue.

The new tax rate—state officials call it a tax-neutral rate—is $2.52 per $100 of assessed value. It was approved in the first of two readings by the Oak Ridge City Council during a three-hour special meeting on Monday. The second reading hasn’t been scheduled yet, but the meeting is expected soon. [Read more…]