Bell Buckle to vote on budget

Bell Buckle's board of mayor and aldermen will meet at the town hall tonight for the regular monthly meeting, and the second and final reading of the 2009-10 Anticipated Budget is on the agenda.

It could include a proposed 5 percent hike in property taxes. The study session begins at 6 p.m. and the regular meeting follows.

The board of mayor and aldermen passed the tax rate at the May meeting, with Mayor Dennis Webb and Alderwoman Annie Rooney voting against it. Aldermen James Anderson and Frank Reagor, who proposed the hike, and Alderwoman Jenny Hunt voted for it. According to Reagor, the tax increase would bring the current rate of 15.3 cents per $100 assessed value to 16 cents, although he also suggested an 11 percent increase that would raise it to 17 cents.

Reagor said at that meeting the 5 percent hike would increase the taxes on a $200,000 home by about $3.50.

The board will also vote on the second reading of the 2008-09 amended budget. Most of the numbers for the 2009-10 anticipated budget are close to the numbers from the 2008-09 budgets, even after it was recently amended to reflect higher costs. The total anticipated revenue for the general fund, for instance, is estimated at $122,945, and the expenditures are expected to run about $115,989. In the 2008-09 original budget, the revenue was $110,655, amended to $113,584, and the expenditures were $104,041, amended to $114,676.

Other matters to be brought before the board tonight include a state resolution honoring the late James Elkins, Bell Buckle's former volunteer fire chief who died last month.

The board will also hear from various committees, including reports from the Chamber of Commerce and Parks and Recreation about recent and upcoming events.