Board Approves Budget for Fiscal Year 2022-23
The Hillsborough Board of Commissioners approved an operating budget totaling about $26.2 million for Fiscal Year 2022-23 during Monday night’s regular meeting.
Hillsborough Mayor Jenn Weaver stated, "This year's budget process included some unique and very challenging circumstances, but the staff and board worked through those hurdles together and we have adopted a budget that does three key things: it takes care of the basic services the town provides and invests in the people who provide them; it invests in several much needed updates and replacements in our water and sewer infrastructure that have been identified as high priorities for the past year; it invests in the long term future of our community, including critical funding for connectivity studies, bringing the train station to fruition, accumulating funds to help finance a new downtown fire station, and making concrete progress to a long-desired skate park."
The adopted budget allocates funds to replace and rehabilitate capital assets that support existing town operations. In addition, several new capital projects are funded in this budget to facilitate anticipated future growth. The budget also contains built-in increases in operations that address ongoing inflation concerns. Other budget highlights include funds for market rate salary adjustments for town employees and continued commitment to funding sustainability efforts.
A public hearing was held May 23. The budget will become effective July 1, with the beginning of the town’s new fiscal year. It includes:
- $13.9 million in expenses in the General Fund.
- $11.5 million in expenses in the Water and Sewer Fund.
- $768,263 in expenses in the Stormwater Utility Fund.
The latter two funds are enterprise funds. No profits are made, and the revenue from these funds is used for no other purpose than paying the costs of those individual operations.
Rates and fees
The budget:
- Maintains the property tax rate of 58.7 cents per $100 of assessed value.
- Reduces the monthly minimum usage that water and sewer customers are charged by 125 gallons.
- Increases water and sewer rates by 4.5 and 2% respectively.
- Makes no change to the stormwater fee.
With the change to 2,250 gallons for the minimum use for water and sewer service, lower-volume utility customers will see a savings in water and sewer fees despite the rate increases.
More information
For more information, see the related documents below. Additionally, visit the Budget page and FAQ: Water and Sewer Rates, which includes information on the minimum use charge, the different rates for in-town and out-of-town customers, and comparisons of rates.
Related documents
Fiscal Year 2022-23 Budget Ordinance
Fiscal Year 2022-23 Annual Budget Workbook
Fiscal Year 2022-23 Fees, Rates and Charges Schedule
