LANDIS — Landis town officials approved the budget for the upcoming fiscal year earlier this month and are dropping the tax rate by 4 cents, but tax bills will still go up.

The new tax rate of $0.49 per $100 will be for all real and personal property.

Like all the municipalities in Rowan County, Landis was subject to a reassessment, aligning home values with current market trends. And like many other places around the county, average home values in Landis increased.

While the budget does provide a decrease of $0.04 per $100 valuation on property taxes, it is not reduced enough to reach a revenue-neutral rate. A revenue-neutral rate is the figure that means the town collects the same revenue as the year before.

For Landis, which previously had a tax rate of $0.53 per $100 valuation, to obtain a revenue-neutral rate would require taking the tax rate to $0.35 per $100 valuation. The change reflects an average reassessment increase of more than one third in property values.

The new tax rate is based on an estimated total valuation of property for the purposes of taxation of $434,257,473 at an estimated collection rate of 98 percent for real and personal property, excluding motor vehicles. The estimated rate of collections is based on the fiscal year ending 2022.

A memo from the newly-appointed Landis town manager, Michael Ambrose, indicated that the decrease will “still allow (Landis) to grow and keep us in good financial position.”

Property taxes make up the most significant portion of Landis’ revenues — approximately 36 percent — which, as budgeted, are approximately $5,978,000.

Of the departments that will need the most considerable bulk of those funds, public safety is one of those at the top, scheduled to receive approximately $2,312,000, representing approximately 39 percent of the budget.

Public services like street and sanitation are budgeted to receive approximately $1,411,000, slightly less than 24 percent of the budget.

The budget proposal includes funds for additional equipment but does not request financing any bonds or loans for capital project items.

The budget also provides a cost-of-living adjustment wage increase of 4 percent for Landis employees, intended to offset the effects of inflation. The budget also carves out a possible 3 percent merit-based increase for employees. Ambrose’s memo indicated that the merit-based increase aims to encourage retention and promote job performance.

The budget does not include funding for any additional personnel.

The formal passage of the budget requires a second reading, which will take place on Monday.