Proposed 2016 Kent town budget holds the line on tax levy
Taxpayers in Kent will see little change in their town taxes next year if the preliminary budget unveiled Thursday is adopted by town board members.
The $18.1 million proposed budget contains no increases except for those in the Lake Carmel Protection District and Kent Fire District, which will see 2.96 and 2.57 increases, respectively.
“For a $200,000 home that would be an increase of $5.20 per year, so the town has done a good job of holding that tax increase for our residents,” Director of Finance Michelle Summers told board members on hand for Thursday’s budget presentation.
Summers pointed out the town budget accounted for 21 percent of the tax levy paid by residents, with county taxes accounting for 8 percent and school taxes making up 71 percent. Of that $18 million proposed town budget, $6.3 million would go toward the general fund, $4.2 million would go toward the highway department and $3.6 million would go toward the police department.
The town would not be using its fund balance to balance the budget, but will use $520,000 of leftover 2015 fund balance to pay for new equipment for the highway department, including two Dodge 5500 1-ton trucks with sanders and plows, two pickup trucks, a mowing arm for a tractor, a wood chipper and a backhoe. The town will pay for the equipment outright instead of bonding for it.
Approximately $60,000 from the general fund will go toward a truck and a plow for the recreation department, and $170,000 will go toward a new truck for the sanitation department. The police department will purchase two patrol vehicles, as it has already been doing in recent years, to stock its fleet.
In addition, $74,000 will be transferred to the capital projects fund to pay for garage boilers, a clean out/separation tank and an HVAC unit for the highway department.
While some town employees will see raises as negotiated through labor contracts, salaries for elected officials will remain unchanged from 2015. The town supervisor annual salary will remain at $61,273, while the four town board members will continue to make $16,996 per year. The two town justices will make $26,707 and the tax collector will make $38,128. The town highway superintendent will make $79,603.
A second public hearing on the proposed 2016 budget will be held during the Nov. 10. town board workshop at 7 p.m.
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