Pelzer Town Council will hold a public hearing on the proposed 2021-22 budget at 7 pm on Friday, June 4.
The hearing will be held at the Pelzer Gym, 112 Lebby St. in Pelzer.
Total revenues are expected to decrease by $97,875.00
In the general fund, the proposed revenues are budgeted at $186,532; approximately $5,000 less than the current year. That partly reflects an absence of rental income from the community building, which will be undergoing major renovations, and unavailable for use to the transfer of $1,300 from the general fund for town activities to the hospitality tax fund.
General fund expenses, as presented, reflect two significant changes.
The arrangement with the ACSO to provide off duty deputies to patrol the town will be reduced from seven eight hour shifts each week to five six hour shifts, if the proposed budget is adopted. That change will reduce the amount spent on patrol coverage by approximately $20,000.
According to Mayor Will Ragland, those funds will be used to give raises to town clerk Cheryl Boudreau and her part time assistant. That line item in the proposed budget goes up from $49,224 last year to $70,902. The increase includes the associated rise in benefits and insurance.
In the public works budget, revenues are anticipated to increase by just under $10,000, while revenues from the sewer department are expected to drop by almost $20,000.
The fee for trash pickup will increase to $8.50 a month, reflecting town’s residents desire to have two special pickup days each year, when large objects could be disposed of.
In the public works expenses salaries and benefits for the town’s three full time employees will rise from $77,297 (for two employees last year) to $118,477 in the coming year, if the proposed budget is adopted.
Fees for water and sewer taps on new construction will be $1300 and $1000, respectively.
A number of line items in the hospitality tax fund were unfunded due to several major transactions that are looming including the sale of the water and sewer systems, the sale of the cell tower property and the reception of more than a half million dollars in federal COVID relief could and would completely change the budget.
