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Beaufort adopts $25 million FY27 budget with small tax cut and modest utility fee increases
Summary
The Beaufort Board of Commissioners approved a roughly $25 million fiscal 2027 budget that reduces the property tax rate slightly and adds modest water/sewer fees to cover debt and utility operations. The package includes one full year of operations for the recently municipalized town docks and a 3% cost‑of‑living adjustment for employees.
The Beaufort Board of Commissioners approved the town's fiscal year 2027 budget on June 1, adopting a plan that the town manager said balances service needs while slightly lowering the property tax rate.
Town Manager Matt Zap told the board the proposed budget totals roughly $25 million, with a $15.1 million general fund, about $5.5 million for water and sewer, a waterfront/docks fund that staff recommended adjusting to $4.4 million, and a $180,000 stormwater fund. Zap said the board's draft holds the property tax rate at a marginally lower level than the prior year ' moving from 28.84 cents per $100 of assessed value to 28.75 cents ' while proposing modest utility fee changes to support debt service tied to $30 million in water and sewer investments.
"We are proposing a tax rate reduction. I will wait for everyone to control your enthusiasm," Zap said during his presentation, later summarizing that the utility proposal would add roughly $1 per month to in‑town water and $1 per month to in‑town sewer customers (about $2/month total) and $4/month for out‑of‑town utility customers to help meet loan repayments and ongoing system needs.
The budget includes a full year of revenues and expenses for operations of the town docks, which the town began managing in January, and a 3% cost‑of‑living adjustment for town employees. Zap presented an example that a home with an assessed value near $535,000 would see an annual municipal property tax bill of about $1,540 under the adopted rate.
Commissioners asked detailed questions about how Beaufort compares with peer towns, the causes of a recent reduction in unassigned fund balance, and whether major capital projects such as asphalt paving had affected available cash. Zap said some reserves were intentionally drawn to pre‑fund road work and to acquire property at 611 Front Street to secure water access and that some reductions in cash were temporary or asset‑backed.
The board moved and approved the budget by voice vote, including the BWOLF waterfront committee's recommended rate structure and an updated fee schedule. The manager said staff will publish outreach materials and may return to the board for minor technical adjustments before the start of the fiscal year on July 1.
