A few new wrinkles were added to the budget the Caledonia Board of Aldermen approved Tuesday, but the bottom line will remain pretty much the same, Mayor Mitch Wiggins said.
“It’s pretty much the same as last year,” Wiggins said. “Our millage rate is the same as last year’s at 6.75 and our total budget is for $430,000, about the same as last year’s budget.”
Wiggins said that while the value of the town’s mill fell from $24,000 to $23,500 it did not necessitate an increase in property tax.
“We did have a little less money in ad valorem revenue, but we were able to offset that with some extra funds from the natural gas storage company that converted from fee-in-lieu to full taxes, which gives us $50,000 more this year. We’ll also get some road and bridge money from the state at some point this year. Whatever else might come up, we can use some money from our fund balance to offset those costs.”
Wiggins said the town has $75,000 in reserve funds.
The mayor said one new item was added to the budget this year.
“We budgeted some money for a new patrol car for the town marshal department,” Wiggins said. “We put a third of the cost, $13,500, in the budget for the patrol car.”
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
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