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Woodfin proposes $8.2 million budget, holds property tax rate and reduces stormwater fees
Summary
Town staff presented a fiscal year 2026 proposed budget that holds the town property tax rate steady, reduces the stormwater fee roughly 21.8% by moving billing to property tax and updating impervious-surface calculations, and asks the council to appropriate $208,034 from fund balance for expansion items.
Town of Woodfin staff presented a recommended fiscal year 2026 budget Tuesday that keeps the town property tax rate at 33 cents per $100 of assessed value, proposes reductions in stormwater fees and includes several one-time and recurring expansion items the town manager said were needed to maintain services.
The town’s proposed general-fund appropriation is $8,214,932, staff said. Officials presented a comparison that excludes FEMA-related hurricane expenditures to show an “apples-to-apples” baseline. Staff projected current-year revenues of about $7.9 million and proposed revenues for the coming year near $8.2 million; the recommended budget includes an appropriation of $208,034 from fund balance to cover requested expansions.
Major items in the expansion package include a $192,572 transfer for Silver Line Park restrooms, $176,000 for public-works facility paving (some deferred from the current year), three replacement leased police vehicles ($92,673 total), a proposed 3% cost-of-living salary adjustment (about $102,421 when fully staffed), and public-works salary adjustments deduced from a pay study. The budget also proposes moving the stormwater fee onto the annual property-tax bill and recalculating impervious surfaces; that combination is projected to reduce the town’s stormwater-fee revenue burden and produce an average reduction of about 21.8% for typical accounts. Staff said the ERU rate would fall from $5.96 to $5.44 (as presented).
The presenter told the council that sales-tax receipts remain below previous years after the storm; sales-tax monthly receipts have leveled around $45,000 per month and the town is slightly below budget on that line but slightly higher on property taxes, yielding a near-net-neutral fiscal position.
Staff described several public-facing elements of the recommended budget: a proposed increase in picnic-shelter rental to $45 for residents and $75 for nonresidents; a clarified police off-duty hourly schedule; a reduced bulky-item pickup fee ($20 as requested by council); and updated planning-and-zoning fees, including new flood-permit review fees. The council was told a required public hearing on the budget will be held at the regular council meeting on June 17, 2025, at 5 p.m. A full copy of the recommended budget is on file at the clerk’s office, staff said.
Budget context and next steps: staff plans a budget amendment in June to remove FEMA public-assistance expenditures that will be administered by the state; the town will hold a public hearing on stormwater fees in June as part of the budget-adoption process.
Ending: council canceled a previously scheduled extra budget work session for June 3; the council did not adopt the budget Tuesday and will consider the formally advertised ordinance after the June public hearing.
