After a public hearing which drew just seven residents Thursday, Hillsboro Beach commissioners axed a proposed doubling of commission salary and embraced a 2013 millage rate of 3.59 next year -- 7.35 percent over the roll back rate of 3.3442, according to Stephen Bloom of Svern Trent Services, the town's Coral Springs consultant.
Budget highlights include:
Town administration: that category loses 11 percent next year, down $21,187 to $144,826;
Water Fund: After years of failing to send water bills, the town now is paying off a $4.7 million loan taken to build a new water plant. That category that showed revenue for the first time this year, $240,067 over expenses;
Revenue from license and permit fees is expected to increase 47.6 percent to $124,921 next year, while fines and forfeitures are projected to rise 20 percent to $18,249.
As for revenue from other sources, those trends mirrored the slide in other communities. Tax receipts slipped 2.6 percent overall, thanks to declining property values. Intergovernmental revenues also were down 17.4 percent to $1.76 million.
Commissioner Javier Garcia has pushed for the town to go digital, so he was unable to explain why the line item for printing and stationary increased 397 percent, from $1,510 to $6,000. Likewise, the line item for office supplies rose to $4,500 for next year, up from $3,958 this year and from $3,009 the year before.
A final hearing on the budget is set for 5 p.m. September 20 at town hall, 1219 Hillsboro Mile..