LAURINBURG —From a cost of living increase to getting new police vehicles, the Laurinburg city budget has several high ticket items for the year.

The 2021-22 budget comes in at $34,374,339 and a public hearing will be held on the budget before council votes on it at the June 15 meeting.

The city will maintain a tax rate of 40 cents per $100 valuation, which will bring in around $3,108,190 for the city’s coffers.

The budget is comprised of four funds — general, electric, water/sewer, and solid waste.

In the general fund, some of the big-ticket items that are expected to be purchased are three new police vehicles at $120,000, tsunami cameras at $73,000, portable radios for police vehicles at $19,000 and replacement fire equipment at $111,192.

The electric fund planning to have some new equipment coming to the city including a replacement of a line truck at $260,000, a tree crew bucket truck at $177,000, a tree crew limb chipper at $32,000, a tree crew stump grinder at $32,000 and a tree crew pickup truck at $40,000.

There are no proposed increases to the city’s electrical rates or the water or sewer rates in this budget.

The water and sewer fund has several projects that it will be funding this fiscal year including water production and treatment essential capital project at $210,000, water distribution and construction at $110,000, sewer line construction at $252,000 and wastewater treatment essential capital at $110,000.

There is currently a proposed $2 per month per household increase for the residential solid waste fee in the solid waste fund. This increase would move it from $26.50 per month to $28.50 per month due to the 7.5% increase in commercial solid waste fees.

Also included in the budget is the tipping fee charged by Scotland County going from $41.50 to $43.50 per ton but there is no projected increase in the tipping fee rates charged by Scotland County in the upcoming fiscal year.

The budget also includes the replacement of garbage roll-out carts for all residents.

Some of the funds will be going towards the close-out of the leaf disposal site at $150,000, yard waste facility equipment at $230,000 and new dumpsters at $40,000.

City Manager Charles Nichols closed off the budget proposal by thanking those who have been involved in the process.

“This budget has been developed in a way to continue to provide essential services to our residents and businesses during these difficult times with revenue shortfalls unknown,” Nichols said. “The preparation of this budget has truly been a team effort. I would like to thank all the city department heads for developing and presenting well-planned budget requests and making sacrifices necessary during these uncertain times.”

The city budget can be found on the city’s website — laurinburg.org — under budgets on the documents and forms page or you can request a copy by emailing jtippett@laurinburg.org.

The city council will meet on Tuesday, June 15, at 7 p.m. in the city council chambers in City Hall, which is located at 303 West Church St. in Laurinburg. Since the city hall is closed to the public at this time the meeting will be live-streamed on the city’s Facebook page. Those wishing to attend the public hearing in person to comment must notify City Clerk Jenny Tippett by 5 p.m. on June 15.

Those who want to comment but do not want to attend in person can send their comments to Tippett via email at jtippett@laurinburg.org or via regular mail at P.O. Box 249, Laurinburg. Any comments must be received by 5 p.m. on June 15.

Reach Katelin Gandee at kgandee@laurinburgexch.wpenginepowered.com.