Tax rate passed, council looks at water increases

By Melinda L. Lucas

The Albany city council passed a new tax rate at Monday’s regular meeting, but a bigger discussion involved higher water rates that just went into effect into the current billing cycle. 

After taking care of regular agenda items, council members went into closed session for more than a hour to discuss the responsibilities and job description for the city manager position, according to Albany mayor Susan Montgomery, but no action was taken when the meeting was reopened to the public and then adjourned.

Tax Rate

There was no one present from the public to speak at the required hearing about the proposed tax rate of 67.55 cents, which is the same as last year’s rate but about 2.5 cents higher than the “No New Revenue” (NNR) rate of 65 cents.

The NNR rate was formerly called the effective tax rate, and is calculated to produce the same amount of taxes if applied to the same properties taxed the previous year.

In the City of Albany’s case, the NNR rate is actually lower than the 2020 tax rate because of higher property values inside the city limits. The city is not as affected by fluctuating mineral valuations.

The 67.55-cent rate is calculated to generate $488,146 in tax revenue, about $18,500 more than last year, which city manager Billy Holson hopes to use in capital outlay expenses such as street repair and sewer improvements.

The rate was approved with no further discussion on a motion by Ragan Riley, seconded by Austin Sherwood. All five council members were in favor.

Water Rates

Several council members mentioned that they had received calls from local residents about significantly higher water bills in this cycle, and Holson stated that the city office had fielded similar calls from water customers in the last week or two.

Water rates for City of Albany customers were raised $1 per 1,000 gallons during a July meeting and went into effect with the September billing.

The water rate increase puts the monthly minimum charge at $57.77 rather than $53.77, based on 2,000 gallons minimum usage for both water and sewer, a $4 increase.

Sherwood pointed out that customers probably used a lot more water in August than they had earlier in the summer because there had been very little rain, accounting for some of the increase since the previous month’s billing. 

Holson explained that unless a customer has a separate sprinkler meter, the water for lawn watering also includes a sewer charge, and a portion of water bills could possibly be credited back for the sewer charge.

“We work with customers a lot,” said Holson. “If there are leaks or people leave hoses on accidentally, we don’t think customers ought to have to pay sewage for that. We help as much as we can.”