SILER CITY — The Siler City Board of Commissioners met at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, June 20, in the Courtroom at City Hall to approve the town’s 2023-2024 budget. The town’s new budget for the fiscal year increases water, sewer and solid waste and recycling rates. These rates have not been increased since 2016.
The Commissioners’ first order of business was to approve the budget itself: As reported by Taylor Heeden, the commissioners previously debated adding a stormwater utility fee. However, it was scrapped from the final budget.
In a follow-up interview with Town Manager Hank Raper, he said the tax rate is being kept at 54 cents.
“But there are increases to water and sewer rates, as well as increases in solid waste collection services,” he said.
For residents inside city limits, the base water rate will be $27 and the sewer rate will be $19.25. For residents outside city limits, the base water rate will be $54 and the base sewer rate will be $38.50.
For commercial buildings inside city limits, the base water rate will be $33 and the base sewer rate will be $27. For commercial buildings outside city limits, the base water rate will be $66 and the base sewer rate will be $54.
In addition, for solid waste and recycling in residential areas, the monthly rate per household will now be $19.36, and for commercial areas the monthly rate per business will be $25.88.
These rates will be effective July 1, 2023. A full breakdown of increased rates will be available online at www.chathamnewsandrecord.com.
This is the first time since 2016 that the water and sewer rates have increased, Raper said.
The budget, with notes to fix typos, was approved unanimously.
In addition, in the 20-minute long open session, Planning Director Jennifer Baptiste gave a presentation to the board about the rezoning request by Mid-State Development Center. This presentation showed the affected parcels of land along U.S. 64, Stockyard Road and Ellington Road.
With no public comments, Raper updated the commissioners on renovations done to the roof of City Hall which have left it looking red again after power washing.
Finally, Raper informed the commissioners about the Siler City Alcoholic Beverage Control Board 2023-2024 budget for them to review. No action was required.