BY MILES LAYTON
EDENTON — Edenton Town Council discussed a proposed tax increase and fee hikes at Tuesday’s meeting.
When Council’s Finance Committee met, here were items presented – see graphs below.
Long-story-short, property tax rates are poised to increase from 43 cents to 46 cents per $100 of assessed value, electric rates by 9% and water/sewer rates by 22% — ouch!!!
Rather than having this ink-stained journalist filter the news about how the cost of living is about to go up in Edenton, see the charts below with the factoids coming from Town Manager Corey Gooden.
Council meets next at 6 p.m. Tuesday, June 10 in Council Chambers.
General Fund
Tax rate change from 43 cents to 46 cents per 100$ ; Stormwater Fee increase of 20%; Dumpster Rental fee increase of 20%; Commercial Solid Waste fee increase of 20%; Residential Solid Waste fee increase of 20% for Housing Authority & 88% increase for Residential.
Electric Fund
The Electric Fund requires an average increase in electric rates of 9%. This increase represents all of the Town Electric rate classes, has a bandwidth of 4% (increases varies from 5% to 13% depending on the class), and includes increases for flat rates of private outdoor lighting & the Town’s street lighting. The last electric rate change was July 1st 2023 and the electric rates did not change for FY24/25 (pending the Town completion of the COS and because of the operational improvements at the generation plant). The rate increase recommendations are a result of completing the 2025 Cost of Service (COS).
Water & Sewer Fund
The Water and Sewer fund recommends an average increase in rates of 22% for both rate classes. The previous change in W&S rates occurred on 7/1/2022 and were a result of the increase pricing for materials post Covid and the first debt service payment from the Water Treatment Plant replacement project. The FY25/26 rate increase is requested for two reasons: (1) The current rate structure for the town does not cover the wholesale cost for the Town water production. The water production cost is currently $10.54 per 1000 gallons and the current water sales average is $9.61 per 1000 gallons. This is a loss of $0.93 per 1000 gallon (~9.7%); and (2) there are three additional debt service payments. These payments are for the WWTP renovations (155K annual payment), the WTP Ground Storage Tank & Well Rehab project (100K annual payment), and the new Vac -Truck annual payment (~58,000). These total an increase in debt service that represents $313,000 for the fund (~10.2 current funded budget). These two items combined require a total of ~20% from this FY25/26 revenue forecast.
2 responses to “Edenton Proposes Tax and Rate Increases: What You Need to Know”
[…] Long-story-short, property tax rates are poised to increase from 43 cents to 46 cents per $100 of assessed value, electric rates by 9% and water/sewer rates by 22%. Town Manager Corey Gooden’s intro to the proposed budget explains why — see download. And here is our story about rising fees and taxes. […]
[…] Property tax rates are poised to increase from 43 cents to 46 cents per $100 of assessed value, electric rates by 9% and water/sewer rates by 22%. Town Manager Corey Gooden’s intro to the proposed budget explains why — see download at the end of this section of the story. And here is our story about rising fees and taxes. […]