By Steve Huffman
shuffman@salisburypost.com
SPENCER ó The Spencer Board of Aldermen will hold a called meeting tonight as a workshop for the 2009-2010 fiscal year budget.
The meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Town Hall.
By state law, municipalities must approve their budgets for the coming fiscal year by July 1. The budget workshop Spencer aldermen are holding tonight is largely an annual formality, an event that’s typically about as interesting as watching paint dry.
Depending upon problems with the as-yet-not-proposed budget, additional workshops may be required.
Town Manager Larry Smith said he doesn’t anticipate any exceptional problems with this year’s budget, but said he can never be sure until aldermen have had a chance to review it. A public hearing on the budget will be scheduled prior to its being presented for approval.
“We’re in decent shape, even considering the economy,” Smith said of the town’s finances. “We’re very conservative.”
The current budget totals $2.5 million and places the tax rate at 60 cents per $100 valuation.
A year ago, it took a tie-breaking vote by Mayor Jody Everhart for the budget to be approved after aldermen deadlocked 3-3 on the matter. The mayor votes only in the event of a tie.
Aldermen were divided on a number of issues when the budget was presented to them a year ago. One was a debate about lowering the tax rate to 58 cents and another concerned the purchase of a new patrol car for the Police Department.