People in the city of Orange might have to pay a little extra on their monthly water and sewer bills starting in October. City Manager Shawn Oubre is proposing the city have a 3.4 percent increase in water and sewer rates. If a household pays $50 a month for water and sewer, the increase would add $1.70 a month. Oubre and the city staff gave City Council the proposed budget for the 2014-15 fiscal year this week. In a letter to the council members, the manager said the water and sewer fund has a $606,000 deficit in the current budget year. The city did not raise rates last year but can make up the loss from savings in the reserve fund. The water and sewer departments operate under a separate “enterprise” budget. That means the services are supposed to pay for themselves with revenues made through charges to customers. The new budget also includes a 2.7 percent increase in the costs of garbage pick-up by Waste Management. The new rate for a residence with one cart will be $21.34 a month. Oubre is also suggesting a 2 percent cost of living raise for all city employees. City Council this week agreed to set a property tax rate of 68.13 cents per $100 valuation, a slight decrease from the current rate of 69 cents per $100 valuation. The total expenditures in the proposed budget are at $27.6 million. If the city operates according to the plans in the budget without emergencies, the city should have almost $9.7 million in reserve funds for savings.
City Council will hold public workshops to review the proposed budget and make changes. A final vote on the budget, and any increases in fees, will be taken in September when the council officially adopts the budget. The first workshop will be 4 p.m. Monday in the Ira Williamson meeting room inside the Orange Public Library. The agenda includes a closed-door executive session for the council to review Oubre’s contract and salary for the new fiscal year. Any decision will be made during a public vote.
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