Waynesville leaders wheel and deal in budget debate over tax hike

May 8—Waynesville town council members put their chips on the table in a freewheeling budget workshop last week akin to a poker game.

The stakes were high: coming up with a budget that includes the equipment, projects and personnel that department heads say they need to keep the town on track. But the town's bankroll wasn't enough to cover the wagers without raising taxes.

As council members played their hands, the pot gradually grew.

Starting buy-in of bulletproof vests. Raised by a new leaf truck. Check on new police cars. Ante upped by two additional firefighters. Called and raised again by new handheld meter readers.

"At this point, we are one step away from selling chicken boxes out front," Town Manager Rob Hites quipped at one juncture.

The game was round three in Waynesville's budget machinations. Just two weeks prior, a tax increase wasn't in the cards.

But town council folded after department heads spoke up. A suite of new budget options was then crafted — ranging from a 2-cent to 7-cent increase on the property tax rate.

Back at the table, the wheeling and dealing resumed — eventually arriving in the neighborhood of a 2.5-cent tax increase.

"That's my last and final offer," Council Member Julia Freeman said.

Odd man out

Only one council member held out, much to the chagrin of the other players. Council Member Chuck Dickson refused to budge, declaring he wouldn't vote for a tax increase no matter what.

"I won't vote for a tax increase. That's just where I am," Dickson said.

However, that didn't stop Dickson from floating a compromise budget proposal of a 2.5-cent tax increase for the rest of council to approve. The other council members were visibly miffed that Dickson would proffer a compromise he had no intention of voting for himself.

"Let me clarify something, Chuck. You have proposed several allocations that would add up to 2.5-cents on the tax rate, but did I understand you to say you won't vote for any tax increase?" asked Council Member Jon Feichter.

"I just put this out there to try to come up with a compromise," Dickson said.

"Yet your position would result in the four of us voting for the tax increase and taking the heat while you skate on by," challenged Feichter. "None of us have professed a desire to raise taxes. All of us are philosophically opposed to it. But we also recognize there are needs that are unmet at the current tax rate."

"Yes," Dickson replied.

Council Member Anthony Sutton also seized on the irony.

"You will be able to reap the benefit of not being the one to raise taxes, but also get the benefit of getting things done for the town," Sutton said.

Dickson told the others that what they did was up to them.

"Do whatever you got to do. You have the votes. I was just proposing something maybe you could work from," Dickson said.

Mayor Gary Caldwell also expressed his disappointment in Dickson's position.

"We were all hoping we could go into this as a team — that we could all decide this and be together on this, as we have in the past," Caldwell said. "We've always tried to have all the board members on the same page. That's the way it's always been."

Dickson said he didn't think it was a big deal to have a split vote on the budget of 4-to-1 or even 3-to-2.

"We are still all contributing to the process," Dickson said.

Freeman said she did a lot of soul searching when revising her previous position on a tax increase.

"I prayed on this and talked to a lot of people. The last thing people want is core services to be cut and diminished," Freeman said. "Without getting these department heads what they need, that's what's going to happen. It goes back to the old saying 'you can't kick the can down the road too much longer.'"

Sutton said the town has a moral obligation to give the town staff the equipment they need to do their jobs and a living wage.

Taking a gamble

Each cent on the property tax rate raises about $165,000 for the town budget. A 2.5-cent increase on the property tax rate would bring the town's operating budget for the coming year to $18.78 million.

Fire Chief Joey Webb has requested four additional fire fighters, which alone comes to two cents on the tax rate.

Meanwhile, Police Chief David Adams wants to give officers a larger raise than the 2.5% across-the-board salary increase for town staff that was built into the budget.

That's because the starting salary of a deputy at the Haywood County Sheriff's Office is $48,000, compared to $42,000 for a starting town police officer.

Adams hopes to close the gap to stay competitive. The police department recently lost two officers, just as it had gotten up to full staff.

Adam's wish list had also included two new police vehicles and a new sergeant position. So, the horse trading began.

"I heard we could give up the police cars if we could just take care of the employees," Mayor Caldwell said to Adams.

"I'd take the pay all day long," Adams replied. "We can forgo cars for a year or two if we can do something about salaries."

Feichter pointed out that a 2.5-cent tax increase would be almost entirely for the police and fire departments.

"I'd like to think we can all get behind that. We owe so much to the firefighters and police officers in this community," Feichter said.

But with the appetite for a tax increase capping out at 2.5 cents, the investment in public safety would leave nothing for the other town needs — like a new leaf truck or upgrading handheld meter readers.

"We have to do the handhelds," Sutton said. "I can't go another year of getting 50 phone calls a month from the public about utility billing."

That's when the town council discovered a trump card in its hand: a new stormwater fee.

A stormwater fee assessed to every property in town could raise as much as $200,000. The fee would have a sliding scale based on lot size, ranging from $1-$7 per a month per property.

The money it generates would go toward maintaining the town's storm drains, gutters and culverts — and thus free up money currently being spent on stormwater for other things in the budget.

"There you go," Feichter said.

The town council also decided to take a gamble on sales tax revenue. The town budget initially estimated there would be a 3% increase in the town's cut of state sales tax, but could they bank on more than that?

"What would happen if we just bumped up that sales tax projection a little bit?" Sutton said.

"It's like roulette. You can play reds and greens, or you can play numbers, but you still have to spin the wheel. That's what we're doing with all our estimations," Hites said.

The town council will reconvene for another budget workshop in hopes of finalizing what makes the cut and what doesn't at 4 p.m. Tuesday, May 14, in the old town hall building.